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<p>While ESG research at the corporate level is well-established, its extension to the city level, particularly exploring how data factors drive urban sustainable development, remains scarce. This paper extends the ESG framework from the corporate to the city level, constructing an urban ESG indicator system that covers three dimensions: Environment (E), Social life (S), and Industrial Governance (G). Utilizing China’s National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zones as a quasi-natural experiment and employing multi-period Difference-in-Differences (DID) and Double Machine Learning (DML) models, we empirically examine the impact of data factor supply on urban ESG development, to provide empirical evidence from China for the coordinated development of digitalization and greening in the world. The findings indicate that data factor supply significantly enhances the urban ESG development, a conclusion that is robust to various tests. Mechanism analysis reveals that the pathways primarily include promoting technological innovation, enhancing commercial trust, and fostering human capital agglomeration. Heterogeneity analyses‌ further demonstrate that the policy effect is stronger in cities located in the southeastern coastal region, those with higher administrative ranks, better digital infrastructure, or higher R&amp;D investment. Additionally, policy synergy tests indicate significant interactive effects between data factor supply and Broadband China Strategy as well as the Data Trading Platform Pilot. Spatial econometric models also reveal positive spatial spillover effects. This paper suggests that policymaking should prioritize increased investment in regions with weak digital infrastructure, while emphasizing data privacy security and anti-monopoly regulation to mitigate digital divides and monopoly risks.</p>

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The impact of data factor supply on urban sustainable development: an empirical study based on the ESG framework

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月16日

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  • Yifan Shi,
  • Jianping Zhou,
  • Weixiang Xu

摘要

While ESG research at the corporate level is well-established, its extension to the city level, particularly exploring how data factors drive urban sustainable development, remains scarce. This paper extends the ESG framework from the corporate to the city level, constructing an urban ESG indicator system that covers three dimensions: Environment (E), Social life (S), and Industrial Governance (G). Utilizing China’s National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zones as a quasi-natural experiment and employing multi-period Difference-in-Differences (DID) and Double Machine Learning (DML) models, we empirically examine the impact of data factor supply on urban ESG development, to provide empirical evidence from China for the coordinated development of digitalization and greening in the world. The findings indicate that data factor supply significantly enhances the urban ESG development, a conclusion that is robust to various tests. Mechanism analysis reveals that the pathways primarily include promoting technological innovation, enhancing commercial trust, and fostering human capital agglomeration. Heterogeneity analyses‌ further demonstrate that the policy effect is stronger in cities located in the southeastern coastal region, those with higher administrative ranks, better digital infrastructure, or higher R&D investment. Additionally, policy synergy tests indicate significant interactive effects between data factor supply and Broadband China Strategy as well as the Data Trading Platform Pilot. Spatial econometric models also reveal positive spatial spillover effects. This paper suggests that policymaking should prioritize increased investment in regions with weak digital infrastructure, while emphasizing data privacy security and anti-monopoly regulation to mitigate digital divides and monopoly risks.