The Impact of Open Government Data on Green Innovation: The Mediating Roles of Environmental Governance and Human Capital in Chinese Prefecture-Level Cities

Open government data (OGD) is a critical strategic measure for governments to unlock the value of data as a factor of production and a key approach to promoting high-quality economic development in the digital era. However, existing research has not sufficiently explored the specific mechanisms and contextual conditions under which OGD influences regional green innovation, creating a significant research gap. This paper aims to fill this gap by utilizing the introduction of OGD platforms by local governments in China as a quasi-natural experiment. Employing panel data from Chinese prefecture-level cities between 2007 and 2022, we investigate the impact of OGD on regional green innovation. The findings reveal that OGD significantly enhances regional green innovation, a conclusion that remains robust across a series of robustness checks. Mechanism analysis further indicates that OGD empowers regional green innovation partly through strengthening government environmental governance and augmenting advanced human capital support. Each of the two channels accounts for about 11% of the total effect. Heterogeneity analysis yields several clear findings: the promoting effect of OGD is more pronounced in eastern cities, higher-tier cities, cities with a greater focus on environmental protection, cities with higher levels of public environmental concern, and cities with stronger support for digital economy policies. Theoretically, this study contributes to the literature by elucidating the ‘black box’ of how OGD influences green innovation and identifying important boundary conditions. Practically, the findings provide empirical insights for policymakers seeking to maximize the empowering role of data factors in fostering regional green technological innovation.