Public data disclosure and cross-regional capital flows: Evidence from China

Using the staggered rollout of municipal open-data platforms in China, we show that public data disclosure significantly increases cross-regional capital inflows. Drawing on firm-level investment data from 2007 to 2022 and a staggered DID design, we find that cities implementing public data disclosure attract more subsidiaries from non-local listed firms. Additional analyses suggest that the policy effect is more pronounced in environments characterized by higher pre-policy uncertainty and weaker administrative regulation, and post-policy evidence further shows that public data disclosure reduces firms’ perceived uncertainty and improves local regulatory fairness and transparency. The effect is stronger in cities with greater government intervention, higher volumes of disclosed data, and in more developed regions such as Eastern China and higher-tier cities. These results provide causal evidence that open public data enhances the information environment, supports better local governance, and promotes more efficient cross-regional capital allocation.