{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]],"date-time":"2026-02-19T08:12:31Z","timestamp":1771488751853,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,19]],"date-time":"2025-07-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1752883200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"General Special Project for Studying and Interpreting Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era of University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences \u201cResearch on Strategies for Enhancing the Resilience and Security of Enterprise Supply Chains from the Perspective of Deep Integration of Digital Economy and Real Economy\u201d","award":["20240153"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20240153"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Amid the rapid development of the digital economy, data elements\u2014emerging as a new type of production factor\u2014are gradually becoming a key resource for enhancing corporate efficiency and promoting high-quality development. The marketization of data elements is also steadily progressing and playing an increasingly important role. Based on data from Chinese A-share listed companies spanning 2007 to 2023, this study systematically evaluates the impact of data element marketization on corporate investment efficiency using a Double Machine Learning approach. The findings reveal that data element marketization significantly improves investment efficiency. Mechanism analysis further demonstrates that such improvement is primarily driven by reduced information dispersion, enhanced risk-bearing capacity, and improved operational efficiency. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that these effects are more pronounced for firms in high-tech industries, high growth potential firms, enterprises located in regions with strong digital infrastructure, and firms experiencing overinvestment problems. This study provides empirical evidence on how the marketization of data elements in China enhances economic outcomes, improving corporate investment decisions, which could serve as a reference for other countries undergoing digital transformation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems13070609","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,21]],"date-time":"2025-07-21T09:33:53Z","timestamp":1753090433000},"page":"609","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Data Elements Marketization and Corporate Investment Efficiency: Causal Inference via Double Machine Learning"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-9451-4863","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yeteng","family":"Ma","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Applied Economics, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 102488, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-3762-2775","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhuo","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Applied Economics, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 102488, China"}]},{"given":"Li","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Applied Economics, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 102488, China"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"388","DOI":"10.1080\/07421222.2018.1451951","article-title":"Creating strategic business value from big data analytics: A research framework","volume":"35","author":"Grover","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. 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