Abstract Based on the provincial panel data of China from 2008 to 2017, this paper constructs a threshold model to explore the nonlinear transmission mechanism of the impact of the internet on science and technology innovation. The results show that the Internet can promote regional science and technology innovation through financial development, and the direct effect of the level of Internet infrastructure on science and technology innovation is greater than that of the indirect effect. The level of using Internet has a certain inhibitory effect on the output of science and technology innovation in regions with low level of financial development, while it has a positive effect on the output of science and technology innovation in regions with higher level of financial development. The level of Internet infrastructure plays a positive role on science and technology innovation in regions with different levels of financial development, but it has a smaller effect on promoting scientific and technological innovation in regions with lower levels of financial development and a greater effect on those regions with higher levels of financial development. Therefore, although the Internet has improved the output of science and technology innovation as a whole, it has also widened the gap of innovation output between regions with different levels of financial development.
2021, Vol. 38 
