Big data technological innovation depends on updated technology and evolving human thought. As one of the most influential sources of knowledge globally, Taoist thoughts have profoundly impacted Chinese politics and economy. This study examines how Taoist thoughts help improve big data technological innovation and explores its mechanisms. The results show that the wisdom of Taoist thoughts is conducive to promoting positive psychological capital (PsyCap) of company employees, which benefits big data technological innovation. Given the positive effect of PsyCap on innovation, Taoist thoughts can promote the development of regional digital finance and the digital economy, both of which foster big data technological innovation. This study also explores the construction of Taoist economics.
Taoist thoughts refer to traditional Chinese philosophy, emphasising living in harmony with the universe. Taoist thoughts continue to influence many personality traits of modern Chinese people (Yang, 2005), particularly in fostering intuition, meditation (Yang, 2005; Kuo, 1996), and creativity (Chen et al., 2023a). For example, the concept ‘the supreme good is like water’ presented by the Tao Te Ching refers to emptying one’s mind and embracing paradoxes, thereby developing a more creative mindset (Yun et al., 2016).
Since 2008, Big Data has become a key driving force in China’s economic development. ‘Data technology’ encompasses the production, collection, storage, processing, and analysis of vast amounts of data. In both operation and production, these stages can enhance efficiency, thereby driving economic development. In recent years, the Chinese government has issued a series of documents, including the Guidelines for the Construction of the National Integrated Government Big Data System, the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of the National Integrated Big Data Centre Collaborative Innovation System, and the ‘14th Five-Year Plan’ Big Data Industrial Development Plan, aimed at promoting big data technological innovation for China’s economic development.
Big data transforms traditional production methods by upgrading equipment and reshaping human thinking. Do Taoist thoughts influence big data technological innovation? Taoist thoughts have deeply influenced the Chinese people for thousands of years. The concept of Wu Wei encourages individuals to act decisively and in harmony with the laws of nature, ultimately mastering these laws (Asim, 2023; Xing and Starik, 2017). It encourages embracing patience (von Fircks, 2023), thoughtfully following nature, and respecting individuality. These actions stimulate the personal initiatives of the Chinese people (Kuo, 1996) and create the necessary conditions for big data technological innovation. This study contends that Taoist thoughts may influence big data technological innovation in China. Moreover, climate change has become a pervasive challenge for humanity as a whole. Climate-friendly technological innovation has the potential to address climate change in a precise manner. Taoist thoughts, which emphasises harmony between humanity and nature, are also likely to influence the development of climate-friendly technological innovation. This issue will be addressed in the section “Discussion”.
This study proposes that the positive effect of Taoist thoughts on big data technological innovation is consistent with the theory that positive psychological capital (PsyCap) affects big data technological innovation. This study uses panel models to empirically investigate the impact of Taoist thoughts on big data technological innovation and its underlying mechanisms. Drawing on the work of Chen et al. (2023a), the natural logarithm of the number of Taoist places of worship in a region is used as a proxy variable for the proliferation of Taoist thoughts. This variable is standardised according to (X-Min)/(Max–Min) formula to create rTAO as another proxy variable. The study outlines the number of authorised and applied big data technology patents, takes the natural logarithm of authorised number of big data technology patents plus 1 to obtain DTCH, and takes the natural logarithm of applied number of big data technology patents plus 1 to obatain rDTCH as proxy variables for the level of big data technological innovation.
The remainder of the study is organised as follows: section ‘Literature review’ conducts a literature review; section ‘Theoretical analysis’ presents the theoretical analysis and hypotheses; section ‘Data, method, and variables’ outlines the research design; section ‘Results’ discusses the empirical analysis and robustness checks; section ‘Mechanism test’ describes the mechanism test; section ‘Discussion’ provides a discussion; and the final section offers a summary of the study.
原文链接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-04909-6?utm_source=chatgpt.com
