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Social Media and Government Responsiveness: Evidence from Vaccine Procurement in China

Author

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  • Mei, Yixin
  • Wu, Yanhui

Abstract

This paper studies how public opinion on social media affects local governments' procurement of vaccines in China during 2014-2019. To establish causality, we exploit city-level variation in the eruption of online opinion on vaccine safety, instrumented by quasi-random early penetration of social media. We find that governments in cities exposed to stronger social media shocks increased the share of more-transparent procurement and shifted procurement from small local suppliers to reputable nonlocal suppliers. The effect is driven by posts expressing anti-government sentiment instead of posts containing investigative information and is larger in cities where local officials face higher top-down political pressure.

Suggested Citation

  • Mei, Yixin & Wu, Yanhui, 2023. "Social Media and Government Responsiveness: Evidence from Vaccine Procurement in China," CEPR Discussion Papers 18588, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:18588
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social media; Government accountability; Authoritarian regime; Public health;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
    • O5 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies
    • P2 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies

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