The effect of digitalization on disaster response in local government: Quasi-experimental evidence from smart city infrastructure in China

In the context of global climate change and the increasing frequency of extreme natural disasters, enhancing local governments’ disaster response capacity has become a critical challenge worldwide. This study conducted a quasi-natural experiment to examine the effect of smart city (SC) infrastructure, as a key manifestation of local government digitalization, on disaster response times by leveraging China’s national SC pilot policy. Using panel data from 283 prefecture-level cities from 2010 to 2020, this study applied a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) approach to identify causal effects. The results show that the SC infrastructure shortens disaster response times by an average of 12.5%. Mechanism analyses reveal that this effect operates through the improved information transmission efficiency, optimized resource allocation, and enhanced interdepartmental collaboration. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that the effect is stronger in sub-provincial cities and eastern regions. This study provided quasi-experimental evidence for the role of digital governance in emergency management and offered policy implications for scaling the SC initiatives in developing countries.