Can the Digital Economy Promote Equal Access to Basic Public Services?——Analysis Based on Regional Convergence Perspective
The strong penetration and wide coverage of the digital economy has become an important starting point for promoting the equal development of basic public services.Using the panel data of 286 prefecture-level cities from 2011 to 2022,this paper empirically examines the impact of digital economy on the equalization of basic public services and the transmission mechanism by using convergence model.The results show that there is absolute and conditional convergence of basic public services and the gap of basic public services between regions is gradually narrowing.After joining the digital economy,the convergence of regional basic public services significantly speeds up.Digital economy can significantly promote the equal basic public services to convergence,and after a series of robustness tests this conclusion still holds.The mechanism analysis shows that government financial pressure and financial transparency are the mechanism of digital economy to promote the dynamic evolution of basic public service equalization.Further analysis shows that digital economy can accelerate the equalization of basic public services in the western region,non-central cities and areas with low urbanization level.The research conclusions have certain policy implications for promoting the equalization of high-quality basic public services and accelerating the formation of a people's livelihood development pattern of joint construction,co-governance and common prosperity.
digital economyequalization of basic public servicesconvergencefinancial pressurefiscal transparency
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