Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare the effects of equity financing and debt financing on technological innovation, and prove that the enhancement of a financing system’s risk tolerance for technological innovation can enhance the innovation risk preference of enterprises and thus promote innovation. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on a transnational sample of 35 developed countries from 1996 to 2015, by using the panel econometric model to empirically examine the effects of two financing modes on innovation. Findings: The findings showed that equity financing, which has higher risk tolerance, has a more positive impact on innovation than debt financing in terms of both economic uptrend and economic downtrend, and that government efficiency plays a significant role in supporting the performance of technological innovation. Originality/value: The paper provides a research framework for examining how a financing system’s risk tolerance capacity affects the development of technological innovation through promoting risk preference among enterprises. This paper provides transnational and cross-cycle comparative evidence that equity financing with a strong risk tolerance capacity can better support technological innovation, even in periods of economic downtrend. Moreover, the importance of financing system’s risk tolerance capacity for innovation during economic crises is discussed.

This article develops a new indicator of financial system risk tolerance capacity to see how the financial risk management function mechanism reacts to economic growth by applying a system generalized method of moments estimation technique. Based on a sample of 49 countries for the period 1998–2011, we find that both bank and stock market risk tolerance capacity can significantly promote long-run economic growth through absorbing and bearing real economic risks. These findings indicate that financial system risk tolerance capacity, which provides a powerful trial and error system, has a positive effect on long-term growth. Therefore, the policy implication is that releasing controllable financial risks actively and moderately beforehand may support scientific and technological innovation, maintain financial stability and, finally, promote long-run economic growth.