Circular intellectual capital and green knowledge externalization: evidence from internet data center licence exposure

Purpose The rapid diffusion of intelligent computing infrastructure is reshaping how firms recombine and redeploy green technological knowledge through market transactions. We examine the impact of Internet Data Center (IDC) licence exposure on firms' green knowledge divestiture intensity. Design/methodology/approach This study selects Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2023 as the research sample. We apply difference-in-differences approach to test the hypothesis. We also checked the heterogeneity by testing mechanisms that map exposure into economically meaningful frictions: data utilization capability, artificial intelligence (AI) investment, and ecosystem embedding. Findings We find that IDC licence exposure increases firms' green knowledge divestiture intensity. The effect is concentrated among firms with larger implied data-asset holdings, more active research and development (R&D) organizations, and higher R&D uncertainty. Channel evidence points to three complementary channels – data-utilization capability, AI-related investment, and platform-ecosystem embedding – through which IDC licence exposure is linked to higher green knowledge divestiture intensity. Originality/value This study extends and empirically operationalizes the circular intellectual capital framework by examining the market-based reallocation of green structural capital. It further identifies IDC licence exposure as an infrastructural condition associated with the external circulation of green technological knowledge.