Abstract:
Enhancing the level of new quality productive forces in agriculture-related enterprises is a crucial approach to achieving high-quality agricultural development. Currently, agriculture-related enterprises generally face the realistic dilemma of difficult and expensive financing, and there is an urgent need for innovation in financial business forms to provide effective support. As emerging forms within the financial sector, digital finance and green finance play a pivotal role in driving the development of new quality productive forces in agriculture-related enterprises through their synergistic development. Using the panel data of China’s A-share agriculture-related listed enterprises from 2011 to 2022, this paper constructed an evaluation index system for new quality productive forces from four dimensions: new quality labor force, new quality means of labor, new quality labor objects, and optimized combination. It explored the impact and underlying mechanism of the synergy between digital finance and green finance on the development of new quality productive forces in agriculture-related enterprises, and further examined the moderating effects of financial supervision and intellectual property protection. The findings are as follows: 1) Both digital finance and green finance individually can significantly enhance the level of new quality productive forces in agriculture-related enterprises, and the synergy between the two exerted stronger effect. This conclusion remains valid after a series of endogeneity and robustness tests. 2) The synergy between digital finance and green finance promoted the development of new quality productive forces in agriculture-related enterprises through three channels: alleviating financing constraints, promoting digital transformation, and reducing information asymmetry. 3) Strong financial supervision and intellectual property protection amplified the enhancing effect of the synergistic development of digital finance and green finance on new quality productive forces in agriculture-related enterprises. 4) The synergistic empowerment effect of digital finance and green finance was more significant in the agriculture-related enterprises that were state-owned, small, at growth and mature stages, located in eastern China and major grain-consuming areas, as well as those belonging to heavy polluting industries, the agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery sector, or producing non-edible products. However, for agriculture-related enterprises in the decline stage, located in central and western China and areas with balanced production and sales, the synergy between digital finance and green finance did not exert promoting effect on new quality productive forces. According to the findings, the government should promote the synergistic development of digital finance and green finance, strengthen financial supervision and intellectual property protection, and implement differentiated support strategies to boost the development of new quality productive forces in agriculture-related enterprises.