Credit Data Accessibility and Shadow Banking of Non‐Financial Firms

ABSTRACT This study examines how open government data (OGD) affects the shadow banking activities of non‐financial firms. Exploiting the staggered implementation of government public data platforms across Chinese cities as an exogenous shock, we employ a difference‐in‐differences approach and find that OGD leads to a significant increase in direct shadow banking activities and a decrease in indirect activities. Channel tests following Baron and Kenny reveal that OGD operates through reducing information asymmetry and lowering economic policy uncertainty. The effects are more pronounced for highly financialized firms, firms with weaker audit quality, and those in regions with greater marketization. Our findings suggest that improved credit data accessibility promotes more transparent and traceable shadow credit intermediation, carrying important implications for financial stability and data governance policy.