Can public data openness enhance public health resource allocation efficiency? Evidence from the launch of Chinese government data platforms

Introduction: Public health resource allocation efficiency constitutes a critical pillar for protecting public health and social welfare. Nevertheless, data silos and information asymmetry constrain the optimization of public health resource allocation. Methods: Taking the launch of Chinese government data platforms as a quasi-natural experiment, this study uses provincial panel data from 2009 to 2022, adopts DEA, staggered DID and other approaches to investigate the impact and transmission mechanisms of public data openness on public health resource allocation efficiency. Results: The findings indicate that, first, public data openness has a significantly positive effect on enhancing public health resource allocation efficiency. Second, the policy effect has obvious regional heterogeneity, with a stronger impact on underdeveloped regions. Third, exploratory channel analysis provides suggestive evidence that reducing information acquisition costs and strengthening external oversight may be the critical transmission pathways. Discussion: Based on these findings, efforts should focus on broadening the scope and deepening the application of data openness. This entails striking a balance between unlocking data value and protecting privacy to ensure coordinated progress. Simultaneously, differentiated regionally strategies should be adopted to promote fair distribution of policy dividends, ultimately enhancing the overall efficiency of public health resource allocation.