In the era of digital economy, the open sharing of public data elements has become a key engine driving the digital transformation of enterprises. This article is based on a quasi-natural experiment using government data platforms launched from 2011 to 2022, and it uses the asymptotic difference-in-differences method to empirically test the mechanism and impact of public data elements on enterprise digital transformation. It has been discovered that making data items publicly available dramatically increases the degree of enterprise digital transformation. According to mechanism analysis, corporate digital transformation is primarily impacted by releasing public data elements through two channels: information resource sharing and removing financial restraints. According to heterogeneity analysis, public data elements significantly impact enterprise digital transformation when they are located in regions with high data openness quality, when they are located in regions with substantial levels of digital economic vitality, and when they are available during businesses’ growth and maturity stages. The enabling influence of public data elements on organizational digital transformation was positively mitigated via a fully functional digital infrastructure and cutting-edge digital products. This study has confirmed the driving value of the market-oriented allocation of data elements in the digital transformation of enterprises, providing a theoretical basis for improving the government’s data openness system and unleashing the productivity of data elements. It also provides practical inspiration for enterprises to seize digital opportunities.

This study explores the nexus between digital financial inclusion and household participation in commercial insurance, utilizing data from the Peking University Digital Financial Inclusion Index and the 2018 CFPS database. Using Probit and Logit models, our research uncovers significant regional and risk -preference variations, emphasizing the influence of governance mechanisms. The study underscores the pivotal role of digital participation in a sustainable governance mechanism in shaping financial behavior, as well as the importance of advocating for regulatory interventions, enhanced financial literacy, and infrastructure development to foster equitable insurance access. Moreover, positive determinants, such as education level and social insurance participation, are identified, while discretionary spending emerges as a barrier. This study advocates for expedited digital financial inclusion initiatives to increase financial literacy with strengthened regulatory oversight and governance mechanisms which would ensure sustainable regional development and insurance market resilience.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been implemented for over a decade; however, research on its impact on China’s transport sector remains relatively scarce. It is imperative to investigate whether the BRI has greatly enhanced the growth of Green Total Factor Productivity (GTFP) in the transport sector across provinces along its route because the logistics hub is crucial for sustainable land development of the local economy. To address this missing link, this study examined the GTFP of the transport sector in cities along the BRI by employing the global Luenberger nonradial directional distance function (GLNDDF). Subsequently, a Difference-in-Differences (DID) model was applied to evaluate the policy impact of the BRI on the regional GTFP of the transport sector. The key results of this study were as follows: (1) our empirical findings indicated that the BRI has a statistically significant, yet very weak governance of the GTFP of the transportation sector, with an average increase of 0.0265 units in total factor productivity, implying that the direction of the BRI seems right, but much stronger governance is needed for differentiated city planning; (2) the BRI has two wings in its implementation policies and regulatory and promotional policies. In this study, active environmental regulation may have a more substantial impact than promotional policies, implying that oversupply issues arising from financial promotions along the BRI routes should be avoided for city planning, even with its political importance. (3) There are notable regional variations, with the policy effect being relatively weak in the central region, implying that the grand industrial transition from the east coastal cities to the western region should be cautiously harmonized between market demand and infrastructure-oriented government-led policies. These findings provide valuable insights into urban environments, city planning, and urban–rural interactions, emphasizing the importance of land-related tradeoffs in resource management to foster sustainable governance in developing countries.

Quantifying the shadow price (SP) of CO₂ emissions is the key to achieving China’s “double carbon” targets. Considering technology heterogeneity, this study applies stochastic frontier analysis combined with meta-frontier technology to estimate the environmental technical efficiency (ETE) and SP of CO₂ emissions for China’s fossil fuel power plants from 2005 to 2015. This approach overcomes the lack of statistical inference and consistency of traditional methods and improves the reliability of results. The main results are as follows: (a) the average ETE of China’s power plants is 0.9444, indicating that inefficient production accounts for 5.66%. The difference in efficiency between the central and local groups is significant. (b) The national average SP of CO₂ is 266.8 US dollars per ton, which is much higher than the carbon price in the emission trading system. This result implies the need to design a carbon trading price mechanism. (c) The distribution of SP shows obvious corporation and geographical characteristics that are closely related to the level of regional economic development. Finally, the findings provide policy implications for the improvement of the efficiency and abatement of costs of power plants and the determination of carbon prices.

This study evaluated the efficiency performance of the world’s top ten seed-producing companies from 2016 to 2022, exploring the interplay between asset scale, technological innovation, and resource allocation in the context of the third global wave of seed industry mergers and growing external uncertainties. Against the backdrop of rising sustainability demands and low-carbon transitions, optimizing firm-level efficiency has become central in balancing economic performance with environmental responsibility. Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI), in this study, we conducted a comprehensive static and dynamic assessment of firm efficiency. The results reveal considerable heterogeneity across firms and over time. Corteva’s overall technical efficiency (OTE) rose from 0.57 in 2018 to 0.91 in 2022, reflecting successful post-merger integration and digital innovation. DLF achieved an OTE = 1.00 in 2020 and 2022, indicating stable specialization on an optimal scale. In contrast, Bayer’s OTE dropped from 0.72 in 2016 to 0.36 in 2022, underscoring the challenges of resource integration after large-scale mergers. In terms of productivity dynamics, Corteva exhibited a sharp EFFCH surge to 1.7041 in 2018–2019, reflecting a phase of rapid efficiency recovery following its post-merger restructuring. Syngenta also demonstrated strong managerial improvement, with its EFFCH reaching 1.3759 in 2017–2018 and maintaining positive momentum thereafter. Over the entire period, Syngenta recorded the highest cumulative growth in efficiency (up 40.76%), while Bayer showed a significant decline (−28.33%), highlighting contrasting integration outcomes. On the technological front, DLF stood out with a TECHCH increase of 34.67%, suggesting that innovation remained the key driver of long-term productivity gains, particularly among firms that avoided aggressive mergers. These findings emphasize the importance of aligning technological investment with scalable and resilient operational structures to achieve sustainable efficiency. This study offers empirical guidance for policymakers and strategic planners seeking to strengthen the seed industry’s role in green transformation, while also providing a framework applicable to other capital-intensive sectors undergoing structural transition.