Government Data Openness Empowering Enterprise Digital Transformation: The Moderating Role of Enterprise Internationalization

Using Chinese A-share listed firms over the period 2011–2023, this study exploits the staggered rollout of local government data openness platforms as a quasi-natural experiment and employs a staggered multi-period difference-in-differences model to examine the impact of government data openness (GDO) on enterprise digital transformation (EDT), with particular attention to the moderating role of the enterprise internationalization level (EIL). The results show that GDO increases firms’ digital transformation, with a larger effect among more internationalized firms. These firms appear better able to turn open government data into information that supports digital investment and business operations. The potential mechanism analysis points to two channels. International operations expand firms’ markets and asset bases, which helps them spread the fixed costs of digital transformation. GDO also lowers the costs of cross-border compliance, information search, and commercial data access, leaving more resources available for digital investment. Heterogeneity tests show that the moderating effect of enterprise internationalization is more pronounced among firms located in eastern China, non-state-owned enterprises, low-polluting firms, high-tech firms, and technology-intensive firms. By bringing enterprise internationalization into the analysis, this study shows that the effect of GDO depends partly on firms’ strategic and organizational conditions. The findings also provide evidence for designing more targeted public data policies.