The impact of Data assets on price markup
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/es7nby24Keywords:
data assets, price markup, capacity utilization, financing constraints, agency costs.Abstract
In the digital economy, data assets have become a critical driver of competitive advantage, yet existing literature remains scarce on how these assets influence firms’ market power. Using a sample of China A-share listed firms from 2007 to 2024, this study applies the De Loecker and Warzynski production function approach to estimate firm-level price markups and systematically empirically examines the impact, mechanisms, and economic consequences of data assets on price markups. The findings reveal that data assets significantly elevate firms’ price markups, and this relationship withstands a battery of robustness checks. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that data assets enhance markups through three channels: raising capacity utilization, alleviating financing constraints, and reducing agency costs. Heterogeneity tests show that these effects are more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, industries with higher competitive intensity, and regions with more developed data factor market institutions. Finally, the economic consequence analysis confirms that the markup gains driven by data assets substantially boost total factor productivity, thereby empowering firms to pursue high-quality development. This study enriches the microeconomic literature on the role of data as an input factor and provides new empirical evidence on the value-creation mechanisms of data assets, offering important insights for firms’digital transformation strategies and for improving data factor market governance.
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