Data Sharing in Small and Medium US Cities : The Role of Community Characteristics

This research investigates whether political, social, and economic characteristics of local communities are related to data sharing between city departments and businesses and nonprofit organizations (‘external stakeholders’). Research about data sharing typically emphasizes managerial, organizational, and technological factors in departments, largely neglecting community characteristics. The willingness to share data depends on the relationships between the government and external stakeholders, and these relationships are shaped by the political, social and economic characteristics of local communities. Using data from a 2016-survey of 2,500 department heads in 500 US cities with populations between 25,000 and 250,000, we find that data sharing increases in cities where communities are politically engaged, have higher trust in government, a preference for open government, higher rates of public sector employment, and economic inequality. Data sharing is less likely to occur in communities with higher education and more nonprofit associations