Abstract:    As finance is a critical component of national core competitiveness, strengthening financial regulation comprehensively and mitigating financial risks effectively are essential directions for achieving the goal of enhancing the efficiency and quality of financial support for the real economy. Using the New Asset Management Regulations (NAMR) as a quasi-natural experiment, this study selected A-share non-financial and non-real estate listed companies from 2014 to 2022 as the research sample and employed a difference-in-differences (DID) model to examine the regulatory effects and mechanisms of the NAMR in curbing corporate investment preferences for financialization over real economic activities. The findings indicated that the implementation of the NAMR significantly increased corporate innovation investment. The mechanism tests revealed that the main channels through which the NAMR enhances corporate R&D investment include reducing the scale of financial assets, refocusing on core business activities, and expanding the employment of high-quality talent. Further analyses showed that the NAMR′s effect on boosting innovation investment is more pronounced among non-state-owned enterprises, firms located in regions with higher financialization levels, and industries with lower competition levels. Moreover, additional research found that the NAMR′s promotion of corporate R&D investment contributes to improved innovation output and significantly enhances corporate value. The study′s conclusions will help clarify the relationship between financial regulation and corporate innovation, thus providing valuable insights for formulation and implementation of financial regulatory policies and promotion of corporate innovation activities.

Key words: new asset management regulation, enterprise innovation, financial assets