Abstract

We examine the impact of data factor marketization on urban green total factor productivity (GTFP) in China, using the staggered adoption of establishing data trading platforms across prefecture-level cities as a quasi-natural experiment. Based on a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) analysis of 169 cities from 2010 to 2022, we find that the construction of data trading platforms significantly enhances urban GTFP. This effect is primarily driven by two mechanisms: fostering green technology innovation and optimizing regional human capital. The results remain robust after a series of tests, including robustness checks, placebo tests, and PSM-DID estimations, with coefficient signs and significance levels largely unchanged, further validating the reliability of our findings. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the GTFP improvement is more pronounced in non-coastal cities, regions with abundant natural resources, and areas with higher human capital levels, while coastal cities, resource-scarce regions, and low-skilled areas experience weaker effects. This divergence may stem from regional disparities in data openness environments and human capital conditions.