Public Data Openness and Corporate Financing Term Mismatch

Abstract

This study addresses the need to rationalize corporate debt maturities and reduce systemic risk by promoting patient capital through the integration of public data and financial services in a framework that realizes data as a valuable production factor. Leveraging a quasi-natural experiment on local government public data-sharing platforms, we examine how public data openness affects mismatches in corporate financing and investment maturities. Findings indicate that public data openness effectively enhances the financial attributes of data, significantly alleviating maturity mismatches by guiding capital towards patient and long-term investments, thus better aligning firms’ financing with asset maturities. Specifically, on the financing side, public data openness reduces information asymmetry between banks and firms, improving access to long-term credit, while on the asset side, it promotes long-term investment and curtails inefficient overinvestment. These effects are particularly pronounced in data-intensive and capital-intensive industries. Additionally, extended analysis reveals that public data openness also helps reduce operational risks and boost corporate productivity.

Keywords: Data elements, Patient capital, Public data openness, Financing term mismatch