Leaving messages as coproduction: impact of government COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions on citizens’ online participation in China

Abstract

Abstract Because non-pharmaceutical interventions are an essential part of pandemic influenza control planning, the complex impacts of such measures must be clearly and comprehensively understood. Research has examined the health and environmental effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions, but has not yet examined their socio-political effects. Using data from the COVID-19 pandemic period, this article examined the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions on people’s online participation in China in 2020. Using the difference-in-differences method, it showed that counter-COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions in Chinese cities led to a 0.217 increase in daily messages to City Party Secretaries, which were consistent with findings of an alternative counterfactual estimator and other additional robustness tests. The effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions were larger in cities with better economic conditions, better telecommunication foundations, and better-educated residents. Mechanism analyses implied that the increase in online participation resulted from not only citizens’ increased actual demand for seeking help and expressing thanks but also their active coproduction activities to address the crisis. Overall, this study identified the socio-political effects of counter-pandemic non-pharmaceutical interventions and discussed how these interventions could be optimized.