Unlocking the potential of data: the impact of data assets on corporate investment-financing maturity mismatches

Purpose While existing studies document that data assets matter in business and managerial activities, the association between data assets and corporate investment-financing maturity mismatches remains unclear. We set out to explore their relationship and elucidate the mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach Utilizing panel data from Chinese A-share listed firms, we use text analysis to measure the level of corporate data assets and empirically investigate the influence of data assets on investment-financing maturity mismatches. Findings We confirm a negative association between data assets and investment-financing maturity mismatches. When data assets increase by one standard deviation, investment-financing maturity mismatches improve by 5.02%. This improvement is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, those operating in highly market competition and technology-intensive enterprises. Mechanism analysis shows that data assets exert a resource effect to alleviate financing constraints, and exhibit a supervisory effect to attract media monitoring, thereby mitigating investment-financing maturity mismatches. Originality/value Our findings reveal mechanisms for effectively mitigating investment-financing maturity mismatches from the perspective of the increasingly prominent data assets. These new insights also advance the understanding of the theoretical and practical importance of data assets among investment-financing decision-making and management in emerging markets.