Open Government Data and Manufacturing Servitization: A Value-Chain Perspective from Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei

This study examines the association between Open Government Data and manufacturing servitization from a value-chain perspective. Using panel data for A-share listed manufacturing firms registered in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region during 2020–2024, we estimate fixed-effects models. The baseline estimates show a statistically significant positive association between Open Government Data and manufacturing servitization. Channel analyses provide indirect evidence consistent with resource allocation efficiency, smart manufacturing and transaction costs as potential pathways underlying this relationship. Supplementary instrumental-variable estimates also yield a positive coefficient, subject to the instrument’s identifying assumptions. Heterogeneity analyses reveal a stronger positive association among firms with more advanced digital transformation, consistent with complementarity between public data and internal digital capabilities. Stronger associations also appear among firms with lower innovation or adaptive capacity, suggesting a possible compensatory role for external information. Group-based coefficient tests support these contrasts, while continuous-interaction results are weaker. Further analysis identifies a positive association between data openness quality and manufacturing servitization. These findings inform discussions of public data reuse and manufacturing servitization by highlighting data quality and differences in firms’ capabilities.