Financialization is key to R&D funding.

Scholars define financial asset allocation as allocating funds in a portfolio to different classes of financial assets based on an investor's risk appetite, investment objectives, and market conditions. The aim is to achieve the optimal balance between risk and return (Zhao et al., 2023). Financial asset allocation is the core aspect of portfolio management activities. Investors allocate funds to different financial assets, such as stocks, bonds, and cash, to maximize return or minimize risk (Yousaf et al., 2023). With the continuous development of the digital economy and digital finance, physical enterprises are increasingly shifting to virtual operations, and financial assets have become a vital part of high-tech enterprises’ assets. Financialization can promote enterprise innovation (Liu & He, 2023). The behavior of high-tech enterprises in the effective allocation and rational use of financial assets profoundly impacts enterprise development. Reasonable allocation of financial assets can provide more effective financial support for high-tech enterprises (Zhang et al., 2021). Providing convenient and diversified financial services for innovative investment has become an essential driving force in promoting structural transformation, technological progress, and the development of industrial marketization (Xolmirzaev, 2020). Therefore, in an era when innovation plays a crucial role in promoting progress, it has become imperative to study how the allocation of financial assets affects the innovation investment of high-tech enterprises.

The supply and distribution of financial assets can provide firms with research and development (R&D) resources and support for technological progress (Guo & Xu, 2021). Funding is the key to enterprise innovation, and reasonable financial assets can encourage enterprises to increase R&D investment, grow their innovation teams, and acquire advanced research equipment and technology (Yang et al., 2019).

The allocation of financial assets is related to firms’ innovation capabilities and environment. The centralized allocation of financial assets may lead to the concentration of resources to a few well-known enterprises, preventing small enterprises from obtaining sufficient financial support and restricting industrial development (Du et al., 2017). Furthermore, the innovation environment, including national policies, laws, and regulations, can affect the allocation of financial assets. Financial assets can be freely allocated in an innovation-supportive policy environment, promoting firms to conduct R&D and innovation activities (Qi, 2022; Duan & Zhuang, 2021). Existing studies mainly investigate the mechanism of financial asset allocation on firms’ creativity, ignoring the influencing effects caused by the different types of financial asset allocation. Therefore, by analyzing the mechanism and testing the variables’ adjustment, this study examines multiple types of financial asset allocation and explores their relationship with corporate creativity.