Abstract: The degree of strategic differences will increase the agency problems of enterprises, then will the increase of agency problems induce the management to increase financial asset investment and thus make the enterprise become over financialized? Taking the A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets from 2007 to 2017 as samples, this paper empirically tests the relationship between strategic differentiation and corporate financialization. The findings show that the greater the degree of corporate strategic differences, the higher the degree of financialization will be. The industrial competition can alleviate the positive relationship between corporate strategic differences and their financialization. The results of further research on the mechanism of action indicate that it is by increasing agency costs that the degree of strategic difference increases the financialization of enterprises.

Key words: degree of strategic difference, corporate financialization, industrial competition, business risks, agency cost