Data Factor Empowers Economic Resilience: Evidence from China

In recent years, the rapid development of data factor has brought about brand-new mechanism pathways and power sources for the enhancement of regional economic resilience. Based on the construction of a theoretical framework for how data factor empowers the enhancement of economic resilience, this paper employs two-way fixed effects and mediating effects panel data models, utilizing provincial panel data from China spanning from 2011 to 2023, to empirically analyze the impact mechanism of data factor on economic resilience. The study finds that data factor has a significant and robust driving effect on economic resilience. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact of data factor on economic resilience exhibits distinct spatial gradient characteristics. Meanwhile, regions with weaker data factor foundations but higher economic resilience demonstrate a greater impact of data factor on economic resilience. Mechanism analysis indicates that data factor indirectly empowers the enhancement of economic resilience through pathways such as promoting innovation-driven development, improving digital finance, and optimizing industrial structure. This study contributes to revealing the underlying theoretical logic of how data factor empowers economic resilience and provides references for formulating policies to better leverage the value of data factor and enhance economic resilience.