Understanding interagency relationships in the sharing of government data: a meta-analysis

This paper reports on a research study that aimed to understand and qualify the influences of interagency relationships on interagency government data sharing (IDS). Using a meta-analysis approach, 76 interviews previously collected from three city governments in China were analysed under the theoretical lens of a unified social network theory of inter-organisational relations (IOR). The meta-analysis shows that interagency data sharing is influenced by the constitution and determinants of interagency relationships. A conceptualisation of the findings indicated that tensions between government agencies are the core cause of the lack of interagency data sharing. Therefore, effective management of interagency tensions should become a central strategy for enhancing interagency data sharing. This paper provides a novel perspective on the conceptualisation of interagency data sharing problems and a new approach to strengthen interagency data sharing in practice.