FinTech–Real Economy Matching and Corporate Digital–Physical Technology Integration

ABSTRACT Against the backdrop of rapid digital economy development, this paper explores how FinTech can effectively align with real economy demands to foster the integration of corporate digitalization and industrial technologies. Using a panel dataset of A‐share listed corporates in China from 2012 to 2022, we construct two indices—one measuring FinTech–real economy matching and the other capturing corporate digital–physical technology integration to empirically investigate their relationship and underlying mechanisms. The results reveal that higher FinTech–real economy matching significantly enhances digital–physical integration, particularly among corporates with digitally experienced executives, in more competitive industries, and in regions with stronger financial supervision. Mechanism analysis indicates that this effect operates primarily through three channels: improved credit allocation, risk mitigation, and enhanced technological collaboration. Further analysis reveals a boundary condition: When FinTech develops too rapidly and outpaces the real economy, it may diminish its positive impact or lead to resource misallocation; when it lags behind, efficiency losses may occur. This paper offers new empirical evidence on how FinTech can better serve the real economy and facilitate the deep integration of digital and physical sectors.