Abstract: Digital inclusive finance can optimize the allocation of financial resources and improve the financing environment for firms, so it plays an important role in promoting the development of entrepreneurial firms. However, existing researches lack exploration of how digital inclusive finance affects entrepreneurial firms’ growth performance. Based on resource dependence theory and dynamic capabilities theory, this paper empirically analyzes the influence of digital inclusive finance on entrepreneurial firms’ growth performance by taking the data of Chinese GEM firms from 2011 to 2022 as the research sample, and investigates the mediating effect of dynamic capabilities on the above relationship and the moderating effect of managerial role. The empirical analysis results indicate that digital inclusive finance can significantly promote entrepreneurial firms’ growth performance, and dynamic capabilities have a significant mediating role in the above relationship. Simultaneously, managerial role plays significant moderating roles in the relationship between digital inclusive finance and dynamic capabilities, and between digital inclusive finance and the growth performance of entrepreneurial firms. Specifically, in the context of the CEO’s dual role integration, the positive effect of digital inclusive finance on dynamic capabilities and on the growth performance of entrepreneurial firms are stronger, the greater the CEO-TMT power disparity, the weaker the positive role of digital inclusive finance in promoting dynamic capabilities and the growth performance of entrepreneurial firms. Based on the empirical research results, this paper further puts forward some countermeasures and suggestions to promote entrepreneurial firms’ growth performance from the aspects of digital inclusive finance, dynamic capabilities, CEO’s dual role integration and CEO-TMT power disparity.

Key words: digital inclusive finance, dynamic capabilities, growth performance, mediating effect, moderating role