Abstract: The pilot policy of industry-finance cooperation improves the quality and efficiency of financial services to the real economy, thereby providing an institutional support for cultivating patient capital in enterprises. Using this pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment, this study employs data on Chinese A-share listed firms from 2012 to 2023 and applies a staggered difference-in-differences model to empirically examine the impact and transmission mechanisms of industry-finance cooperation on patient capital. The findings reveal that the policy significantly promotes the accumulation of patient capital. Mechanism analysis suggests that this policy strengthens patient capital through the channels of maturity structure optimization, signaling-based credit enhancement, and cost barrier-breaking. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that the policy’s impact is more pronounced for firms in the growth and maturity stages, for those whose top management teams possess financial expertise, and for non-state-owned enterprises. Policy implications include improving the institutional design to expand the effectiveness of the pilot program, adopting differentiated support strategies to empower highly responsive enterprises, and fostering a comprehensive patient capital ecosystem to consolidate the institutional foundation for cultivating patient capital.

Key words: industry-finance cooperation, patient capital, maturity mismatch, information asymmetry, financing cost