HOW DOES DATA FACTOR MARKETIZATION EMPOWER ENTERPRISES' NEW QUALITY PRODUCTIVITY? THE MODERATING ROLE OF EXPORT TECHNOLOGY SOPHISTICATION

Advancing the marketization of data factors constitutes a critical pathway for cultivating new quality productivity. Leveraging matched city- and listed firm-level data from China (2012–2022) and employing the establishment of data trading platforms as a quasi-natural experiment, this study systematically examines the impact of data factor marketization on enterprise new quality productivity using a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model. The findings reveal that data factor marketization significantly enhances enterprise new quality productivity, a conclusion that remains robust after parallel trend tests, placebo tests, and propensity score matching (PSM) analyses. Moderating effect analysis demonstrates that export technology sophistication exerts a significant positive regulatory influence on the productivity-enabling effects of data factors, with the policy impact being stronger for firms with high export technology sophistication compared to those with low complexity. Heterogeneity tests further uncover differentiated policy effects: the impacts are more pronounced in eastern regions than in western regions, stronger for technology- and labor-intensive enterprises than for asset-intensive ones, and greater for large-scale enterprises than for small- and medium-sized firms. These findings provide empirical support for constructing a data factor marketization reform path characterized by "technology threshold adaptation, regional gradient advancement, and scale-specific policy implementation," offering critical insights for refining the hierarchical allocation mechanism of data factors.