Public data openness and corporate violations: Evidence from China

Public data openness is a key measure to advance the digital economy and offers a new approach to promoting data-driven corporate governance. Using the launch of provincial public data platforms as a quasi-natural experiment, this study employs a multi-period difference-in-differences model to empirically examine the impact of public data openness on corporate violations and the underlying mechanisms. The findings reveal that public data openness helps suppress corporate violations. The mechanism analysis indicates that public data openness achieves this through two intrinsic channels: the information effect and the enabling effect. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the suppressive effect of public data openness on corporate violations is stronger in firms located in regions with poor legal environments, strong external supervision, and high financing constraints than in their respective counterparts. This study not only extends research on the economic consequences of public data openness and the determinants of corporate violations but also provides valuable policy implications for promoting high-quality public data openness and leveraging data resources to promote healthy corporate development.