Exploring the moderating role of climate services on flood resilience: Insights from Chinese SMEs

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a vital role in world economic growth and employment creation, but climate hazards especially floods have become a core risk compromising their production systems, and derailing supply chains. Flood resilience is essential to cater negative effects on SMEs as it protects business assets, minimizes operational disruptions, and ensure quicker recovery. Climate services can assist SMEs in their effort to become flood resilient, as long as services are planned and are according to SME needs. Therefore, this study investigated the moderating effect of climate services on the relationships between six key determinants financial capacity, awareness and risk perception, government support and policy environment, technological capability and innovation, location and exposure, social networks and partnerships, and the flood-resilience of SMEs. The data were collected from 250 SMEs using multistage stratified random sampling technique from three Chinese provinces through face-to-face surveys. The collected data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation model. The findings showed that more financial capacity, greater awareness and perceived risk associated with floods, innovative and technological capability, and strong social networks and partnerships may facilitate flood resilience of SMEs. The findings revealed that climate services significantly moderate the relationship between awareness and risk perception, government support and policy environment, technological capability and innovation, location and exposure, social networks and partnerships and flood resilience outcomes of SMEs. These findings underscore the critical role of climate services in strengthening SMEs flood resilience and provide a robust framework for integrating climate information into SME disaster-risk management.