Financing Efficiency and Influencing Factors of High-Tech Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises of Information Technology Industry in the China Yangtze River Delta

High-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (high-tech SMEs) play a driving role in the economic transformation of the China Yangtze River Delta. However, comparatively little research and attention has been paid to evaluating the financing efficiency and investigating both external and internal influencing factors on financing efficiency based on the information of these enterprises. This study evaluates the financing efficiencies in a homogeneous environment of high-tech SMEs of information technology industry in the China Yangtze River Delta for the period 2014 to 2020 employing the panel three-stage Data Envelopment Analysis model. We have concluded that the financing technical efficiency presents a U-shaped trend from 2014 to 2020, at a moderate level due to the low pure technical efficiency; financing efficiency shows different spatial distribution patterns; most decision-making units are in the quasi-relatively inefficient range, while only a minority are at the efficiency frontier. Furthermore, the external and internal environmental factors are investigated based on Panel Stochastic Frontier Analysis and Tobit model. According to the empirical results, the optimization of the financial and technical environment contributes to financing efficiency; by contrast, a good economic and policy environment appears to restrict it; internal environmental factors such as growth ability, debt solvency, and the average age of managers have significant impacts on financing efficiency.