Data trading platforms and urban economic vitality: evidence from China

This study provides city-level causal evidence on the economic effects of data trading infrastructure. Treating the staggered establishment of data trading platforms (DTPs) across Chinese cities between 2014 and 2023 as a quasi-natural experiment, we estimate a multi-period difference-in-differences model using a balanced panel of 298 prefecture-level cities from 2000 to 2023. The baseline estimate indicates that DTP establishment increases night-time light intensity – our primary proxy for urban economic vitality – by 3.610 units, robust across all sensitivity specifications. Event-study analysis validates parallel trends, and a randomization-inference placebo test yields an empirical p-value below 0.001. A Bartik instrumental variable strategy produces a 2SLS estimate of 9.421 (p < 0.05), which we interpret as complementary given a moderately relevant first stage (F = 2.71). Mechanism tests reveal that DTPs promote innovation and digital economy employment. A dose–response analysis shows that each additional year of platform operation increases vitality by 0.876 units on average, but the marginal effect turns negative in cities with below-median internet penetration. These findings establish that DTPs can serve as effective institutional vehicles for data factor marketization, but their economic returns are contingent on complementary digital infrastructure investments.