The impact of public data openness on corporate supply chain efficiency: A quasi-natural experiment based on a local government data openness platform

This paper examines the impact of public data openness (PDO) on supply chain efficiency (SCE). PDO is a key initiative for advancing digital transformation in public services and promoting high-quality economic development. We use the launch of public data platforms by Chinese local governments as a quasi-natural experiment, with firm-level data from 2008 to 2022, and find that PDO reduces inventory turnover days and thus enhances SCE. Our results remain robust after addressing potential endogeneity and conducting various robustness checks. Mechanism analysis indicates that PDO achieves these effects by accelerating digital transformation, enhancing inter-firm synergy, and optimizing the urban business environment. Further, heterogeneity analysis indicates different impacts across firm types — with stronger impacts on private and technology-intensive firms — and under varying policy environments. We recommend that local governments strengthen public data platform development, promote digital transformation, and enhance intellectual property protection to fully harness the power of data and foster high-quality economic growth.