Open Data in the Digital Economy: An Evolutionary Game Theory Perspective
Existing research on open data–driven sustainable development overlooks the critical role of data intermediaries—particularly regulatory entities—in governing data ecosystems. Method: This study constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model integrating data providers, users, and regulators—the first systematic incorporation of regulators into open data literature—to characterize multi-stakeholder co-evolutionary dynamics. It employs replicator dynamics analysis, numerical simulation, and sensitivity testing to examine nonlinear interactions among regulatory incentives, user costs, and data value. Contribution/Results: The analysis identifies multiple evolutionarily stable strategies (ESS) and quantifies threshold effects: regulatory reward-penalty intensity and users’ data mining capability exhibit nonlinear, bifurcation-like impacts on cooperation rates. Findings provide empirically grounded theoretical foundations for designing incentive-compatible platform mechanisms and evidence-based data governance policies to advance sustainable development through open data.