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Extant literature on authoritarian legislatures argues that dictators set up quasi-democratic institutions to co-opt opposition and attract investors. We argue that dictators also nurture clientelistic ties with social groups useful to their rule, a previously overlooked function of authoritarian legislatures. Drawing on the case of Chinese local legislatures—namely, the local People's Congress and the local People's Political Consultative Conference—we find that Chinese local governments use these institutions to channel patronage to and gain political support from the private sector. Field interviews and an analysis of a nationwide firm-level survey show that private firms owned by local legislative members, while obtaining more bank loans, provide more support to the local government in various forms than those owned by nonmembers. This finding suggests that authoritarian legislatures, even those with weak policymaking efficacy, can help authoritarian states build stable alliances with social groups, thereby contributing to regime resilience.

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While information campaigns have been widely recognized as a pillar of public health crisis management and heightened by the current COVID‐19 pandemic, an insufficient number of studies have investigated the impact of information disclosure on influencing citizen cooperation crucial for emergency management. Focusing on generic information disclosure practices during the recovery period from January 19, 2020, to February 29, 2020, in China and by employing a difference‐in‐difference method, this study finds that information disclosure significantly enhanced citizen coproduction as measured by aggregated search queries of COVID‐19‐related information, and earlier disclosure yielded greater effect more quickly. Moreover, government capacity and citizens' trust in government at the local level significantly moderate the positive impact of information disclosure. This study uncovers the novel relationship between information disclosure and citizen coproduction during emergencies in the Chinese context.