How does public data openness strengthen urban economic resilience? Evidence from Chinese cities

Public data openness (PDO) has become an important component of digital government, but its effect on urban economic resilience (UER) remains insufficiently understood. Using panel data for 279 Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2011 to 2022, this paper exploits the staggered launch of municipal open data platforms as a quasi-natural experiment and estimates a staggered difference-in-differences model. The results show that PDO significantly improves UER, with an estimated effect equal to approximately 4.1% of the sample mean. The gains extend to resistance and recovery capacity, adaptation and adjustment capacity, and innovation and transformation capacity. The main finding remains robust across additional identification tests, sample restrictions, controls for concurrent digital policies, and analyses accounting for the COVID-19 pandemic and spatial dependence. Mechanism analysis indicates that PDO strengthens UER by narrowing the urban-rural income gap, improving labour allocation, and promoting entrepreneurial vitality. Its effect on capital allocation is statistically insignificant. The effect of PDO is stronger in cities with higher human capital and more favourable business environments, and in regions with higher-quality public-data openness. These results clarify how public data support urban economic adjustment and show that their economic value depends on the conditions under which they are released and used.