Big data technology and corporate investment efficiency: evidence from firm-level patent data

Xuechen Li, Shusheng Wang, Pengyi Dai and Haitong Li

Applied Economics, 2025, vol. 57, issue 41, 6572-6591

Abstract: We investigate the effect of big data technology on corporate investment efficiency. Using the patent textual data of China’s listed firms to measure big data technology, we find that big data technology significantly improves corporate investment efficiency, and the alleviating effect on corporate inefficient investment is significant for both over-investment and under-investment. Our findings are robust to tests for an instrumental variable, a quasi-natural experiment, and alternative variables. We also find that alleviating information incompleteness and agency conflicts are the channels through which big data technology enables firms to invest more efficiently. Moreover, additional analyses show that the improvement in corporate investment efficiency is more pronounced in non-state-owned firms, smaller firms, firms with a lower competitive position, and firms under sound intellectual property protection. Our study enriches the research on the economic consequences of emerging technologies, and provides guidance for firms to improve their investment decision-making quality towards competitive advantages.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00036846.2025.2532062 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:applec:v:57:y:2025:i:41:p:6572-6591

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RAEC20

DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2025.2532062

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Economics is currently edited by Anita Phillips

More articles in Applied Economics from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().