How Open Government Data Enhances Public Service Delivery: A Quasi-Natural Experiment from Government Data Platforms

Enhancing the level of public service delivery constitutes a core objective for governments worldwide in their efforts to optimize governance effectiveness. With the advancement of the digital revolution, government data has emerged as a critical factor of production, and its open utilization is increasingly regarded as a strategic resource for addressing public service challenges. This study employs panel data from 285 Chinese cities spanning the period 2010 to 2022. By leveraging the staggered rollout of data openness platforms by local governments as a quasi-natural experiment, it evaluates the impact mechanism of government data openness on public service delivery using a staggered difference-in-differences approach. The findings indicate that open government data significantly enhances regional public service delivery, an effect that operates primarily through data utilization and urban technological innovation capacity, both of which collectively empower public service improvements. Moderation analysis further reveals that fiscal transparency exerts a significant positive moderating effect within this pathway, thereby amplifying the influence of government data openness on public service provision levels.