Does Financial Agglomeration Promote Balanced Growth? Evidence from Enterprise-Level Structural Change

This study investigates Chinese listed companies over the period 2013–2023 to systematically examine the relationship between financial agglomeration, enterprise structural upgrading, and economic growth disparities at the firm level. The empirical findings can be summarized as follows. First, a higher degree of financial agglomeration significantly reduces economic growth disparities among enterprises. Second, enterprise structural upgrading plays a crucial role in narrowing growth disparities across firms. Third, enterprise structural upgrading acts as an important mediating mechanism through which financial agglomeration influences economic growth disparities. Fourth, the disparity-reducing effect of financial agglomeration is more pronounced for large enterprises, while its impact on small and medium-sized enterprises is relatively weaker. Fifth, financial agglomeration is more effective in mitigating growth disparities in highly competitive industries, whereas its effect is less significant in industries characterized by lower levels of competition. Finally, in high-competition industries, the mediating role of enterprise structural upgrading between financial agglomeration and economic growth disparities is significantly stronger.