Government open data policy and open innovation

Feng, Jiaqi, Xu, Wen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1745-5699 and Wang, Ji 2026. Government open data policy and open innovation. Sustainability 18 (17) , 8855. 10.3390/su18178855

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Abstract

The Chinese government has gradually launched open data platforms across municipalities since 2012, releasing authoritative public records as reusable assets. Market frictions such as information asymmetry continue to constrain firms from engaging in open innovation. It remains unclear whether government open data policy can mitigate these frictions. This paper examines its effect on firm-level open innovation and identifies the underlying channels. We employ a staggered difference in differences model as our primary empirical method. We analyze a panel dataset of Chinese A share listed firms from 2007 to 2023. We find a positive effect of government open data policy on open innovation. The results remain robust across propensity score matching and placebo tests. The information asymmetry channel shows that the effect is more pronounced for highly opaque firms. The managerial learning channel shows that the effect is stronger for firms with strong information processing capacities. The results of the subgroup analysis suggest that the observed impact primarily manifests within high-technology industries and the eastern geographic region. This study extends the open innovation literature by highlighting government data platforms as institutional supplements to firm-level knowledge strategies. We measure open innovation through co-patented applications, which primarily capture coupled open innovation. Future research could incorporate inbound and outbound open innovation measures.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Engineering
Publisher:	MDPI
ISSN:	2071-1050
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	9 September 2026
Date of Acceptance:	26 August 2026
Last Modified:	09 Sep 2026 09:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/189485

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