The Green Innovation Effect of Public Data Access: Evidence from Chinese Cities

Public data access is an important measure to promote digital government construction and the digital economy strategy, thereby unleashing value-creation effects, fostering social innovation, and enhancing economic vitality. Using panel data on cities at or above the prefecture level in China from 2007 to 2023, this paper constructs a multi-period difference-in-differences model based on the quasi-natural experiment of public data access to examine the green innovation effect of public data access systematically. The study finds that public data access can significantly improve urban innovation levels, and the green innovation effect brought about by public data access has the effect of "improving quality and increasing quantity". Mechanism analysis shows that public data access promotes improvements in urban innovation by enhancing government governance and fostering talent agglomeration. Meanwhile, the green innovation effect of public data access is more substantial in resource-based cities, the eastern region, non-metropolitan cities, cities with good digital infrastructure and stronger environmental supervision,and megacities. In addition, the green innovation effect brought about by public data access can not only reduce carbon emissions but also enhance the utilization rate of green energy. The research conclusions have important policy implications for further promoting the opening and sharing of public data, driving green, low-carbon economic growth, and realizing high-quality economic development.