The employment situation in China remains quite severe due to both domestic and international environmental influences. On one hand, market demand contraction is leading to operational difficulties for enterprises and insufficient labor demand. On the other hand, the continuous increase in the number of college graduates highlights the problem of “youth employment difficulty”. Strong government governance capability is key to promoting employment stability. Given the increasingly important role of digital technology in enhancing government governance capabilities, the construction of digital government is expected to become a new approach to achieving the goal of stable employment.
Based on the use of input-output tables to measure the level of digital government construction, this paper employs data from Chinese listed companies from 2007 to 2020 to thoroughly examine the impact of digital government construction on corporate labor employment and its mechanisms of action. Furthermore, it discusses the effect of digital government construction on the efficiency of labor resource allocation. The results show that digital government construction can significantly increase the number of labor employment in enterprises. This conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests, including endogenous test, replacing core variables, considering sample selection bias, and excluding concurrent policy interference. Additionally, the employment promotion effect of digital government is more prominent in private enterprises, enterprises lacking political connections, growth-stage enterprises, and labor-intensive enterprises. Digital government construction can increase corporate production investment and labor demand by reducing non-productive expenditures, alleviating financing constraints, and lowering economic uncertainty, as well as by expanding business scope, which collectively enhance job creation and increase enterprise employment numbers. Efficient allocation of labor resources is also crucial for employment stability.Digital government construction helps alleviate under-employment in enterprises, improve the efficiency of labor resource allocation within enterprises, and optimize the allocation of labor elements among enterprises by enhancing market competition.This article assesses the employment effects of digital government construction, which has significant practical implications for enhancing government digitalization and achieving the policy objective of "stable employment".
The potential marginal contributions of this study are as follows: Firstly, differing from previous literature, this paper measures the level of digital government development by calculating the output contribution of digital capital in provincial government departments using input-output table data within the framework of economic growth accounting. This to some extent addresses the deficiencies in existing digital government indicators in an era of rapid technological development and major changes in government governance. Secondly, unlike previous studies that discuss the applications of digital technology at the enterprise and industry levels, this paper examines the impact and mechanisms of digital government on the employment of micro and small enterprises from the perspective of digital technology applications in government departments, thereby expanding the research perspective on digital technology and its economic effects. Thirdly, this paper systematically elucidates the impact mechanism of digital government on enterprise labor employment from the angles of production scale expansion and job creation, using the endogenous mediation effect model to mitigate potential endogeneity issues in mechanism analysis,thereby accurately identifying the impact mechanisms.
As a mapping of the allocation and use of public resources in society, the enhancement of fiscal information transparency is widely regarded as a key factor in promoting the scientificization of social governance and improving the governance capacity of the government. Fiscal transparency is not only a core component of a government's governance system, a highly transparent fiscal system is also of great significance in enhancing government effectiveness, increasing public trust,and promoting people's participation in and monitoring of government activities, which in turn helps to promote the modernization of a country's governance system and governance capacity. China has always attached great importance to the openness and transparency of fiscal information, and has improved fiscal transparency and government governance capacity by continuously improving relevant regulations and systems. Nevertheless, there is still a gap between China's fiscal transparency and the international budget transparency standards, and the fiscal transparency among regions shows obvious imbalance. In recent years, with the development of digital technology and the steady advancement of digital government construction, the science and accuracy of government data collection have significantly improved. The opening of government public data not only plays an important role in promoting the public's participation in governance by utilizing government data, but also has a significant impact on economic development and social progress. Public data openness has become an important driving force for improving fiscal transparency in China, however, no research has yet explored in depth the causal relationship between public data platform access and fiscal transparency. Does the accessing of government public data platforms really affect fiscal transparency? What are the potential mechanisms behind it? These questions remain to be answered systematically.
This paper explores the impact of public data platform access on fiscal transparency using multi-period difference-indifference methods in a quasi-natural experiment in which a municipal government goes online with an open public data platform. It is found that public data platform access can effectively enhance fiscal transparency, a conclusion that still holds after excluding a series of robustness tests such as heterogeneity treatment effects. The results of the mechanism analysis indicate that digital technology innovation as well as increased awareness of public finance concerns are important channels through which public data platform access promotes the improvement of local fiscal transparency. The results of heterogeneity analysis show that the promotion effect of public data platform access is more significant in peripheral cities, cities in the central and western regions, and cities with higher levels of marketization. Further research finds that there is a regional competition effect in local fiscal transparency improvement, and the promotion incentive of officials significantly enhances the promotion effect of public data platform access on fiscal transparency improvement. In addition, the promotion effect of public data platform access on the improvement of fiscal transparency can improve regional entrepreneurial vitality and attract enterprises, especially digital service enterprises, to enter the region. The findings of this paper provide policy references and empirical insights for local governments to promote the effective use of data factor resources and build a modernized fiscal governance system in the era of digital economy.
One of the key focal points in spearheading the construction of a modern industrial system is the development of newquality productive forces. This article constructs a spatial equilibrium model that encapsulates the optimal innovation decisions of enterprises, taking into account the distinctive characteristics of new-quality productive forces, such as increasing returns to scale, high knowledge intensity, and lengthy investment cycles. Urban network externalities are posited to foster the formation of newquality productive forces by influencing the accessibility of markets, technology, and financial services. The model provides a nuanced framework for understanding how the interconnectedness of urban areas can create synergies that enhance the development of innovative and advanced productive capacities. It suggests that the ease of access to markets, the ability to leverage technological advancements, and the availability of financial support are critical factors that can significantly accelerate the growth of newquality productive forces within a city's economy.
Drawing on the registration information of Chinese enterprises compiled by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, this paper constructs an indicator of entrepreneurial activities in emerging industrial sectors and future industrial sectors at the city level to systematically investigate the impact of urban network externalities on the formation of new productive forces. Empirical research finds that urban network externalities have a significant positive effect on the formation of new productive forces. Heterogeneity tests reveal that urban characteristics such as geographical location and size difference have differential impacts on the promotion of urban network externalities, with cities in the eastern region and small-to-medium-sized cities experiencing more significant promotional effects. Delving deeper into the underlying mechanisms, the study's mechanism tests highlight the pivotal role of enhancing market accessibility, technological accessibility, and financial service accessibility between cities as a crucial mechanism fostering the development of newquality productive forces. What's more,market accessibility has a more significant marginal effect on the formation of newquality productive forces in small and medium-sized cities, technological accessibility has a more significant marginal effect in cities with low innovation levels,and financial service accessibility has a more significant marginal effect in cities with low levels of financial development.
The conclusions drawn from this study not only expound on the micro-mechanisms through which urban network externalities encourage the formation of newquality productive forces but also offer policy enlightenment for governments at various levels to accelerate the development of these forces. The study advocates for the construction of a unified domestic market and the promotion of smooth sharing of products, knowledge, and capital between cities, providing a strategic perspective for policymakers. It offers a comprehensive framework for understanding the role of urban network externalities in driving economic progress and provides actionable recommendations for policymakers seeking to stimulate the growth of newquality productive forces. By adopting strategies that promote connectivity, collaboration, and innovation, governments can help to build a more resilient and competitive industrial system that is better equipped to meet the challenges of the future.Promoting the cultivation of new productive forces is a fundamental, global and long-term strategic judgment made by General Secretary Xi Jinping on the basis of changes in China's development stage, development environment and development conditions. As the Belt and Road Initiative adheres to the principles of common business, common construction and common sharing, the Belt and Road Initiative is a major strategic judgment based on the changes in China's development stage and development conditions. Therefore, the institutional field provided by the Belt and Road Initiative may become an important driving force for cultivating new productivity of participating enterprises.
In this paper, we analyze the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on the cultivation of new productivity of participating enterprises and its mechanism of action based on the data of listed enterprises from 2011 to 2022 using a multi-temporal double-difference method. The results are as follows: First, the Belt and Road Initiative can effectively promote the cultivation of new productivity in participating firms, and this result is still robust after series of tests. Second, in terms of the mechanism of action, the Belt and Road Initiative promotes the cultivation of new productivity in participating firms by improving both financing constraints and innovation capacity. Finally, the heterogeneity results find that the Belt and Road Initiative's influence on the new productivity of participating firms is more pronounced in emerging industries and nodal cities than in non-emerging industries and non-nodal cities.
Based on the above findings, this paper concludes that, in the context of the development of new productivity, government departments should continue to adhere to and deepen the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, strengthen the policy communication and coordination with the countries along the route, and form a more stable and open cooperation mechanism, so as to promote the cultivation of new productivity of the enterprises in terms of the institutional arrangement.Enterprises should actively participate in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, and make use of the cooperation platforms and projects of the Belt and Road Initiative to enhance their own innovation capabilities and cultivate their new productivity.
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that high-quality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist country in a comprehensive manner, and efforts should be made to improve total factor productivity. Manufacturing industry is the foundation of a country. Improving its total factor productivity is the key to achieving high-quality development. As the world's most populous country, Chinese market potential is huge and strong. In the new stage of development, to improve total factor productivity, we must get rid of the traditional path dependence, abandon the practice of regional fragmentation, and shift to a new model with the domestic cycle as the endogenous driving force.
In this study, we construct the market potential index to reflect the advantages of domestic super-large-scale market,and use the matching data of cities and enterprises from 2007 to 2020 to examine the impact of domestic super-large-scale market advantages on the total factor productivity of manufacturing enterprises. The empirical results are as follows: First, the domestic market potential has improved the total factor productivity of manufacturing enterprises, and its mechanism is promoting technological innovation, reducing costs and promoting the professional division. Second, the heterogeneity test shows that for non-state-owned enterprises, capital-intensive enterprises, large enterprises and enterprises in areas with better infrastructure and higher marketization level, the domestic market potential has a more obvious effect on the improvement of total factor productivity of enterprises. Third, further analysis shows that the domestic market potential has a siphon effect, and the domestic market potential of neighboring cities can reduce the total factor productivity of local enterprises. The domestic and foreign market synergies have a significant negative effect on the total factor productivity of manufacturing enterprises,while the digital economy effectively alleviates this adverse effect.
The marginal contribution lies in: First, based on the background of Chinese new development pattern, this paper examines the impact and mechanisms of domestic market potential on the total factor productivity of manufacturing enterprises,and provides new micro empirical evidence for the productivity effect of market potential. Second, this paper examines the heterogeneous impact of domestic market potential on total factor productivity of manufacturing enterprises, and proposes a precise reform direction for accelerating the construction of a unified national market and smoothing the domestic cycle. Third,this paper innovatively explores the siphon effect of domestic market potential and the synergistic effect of domestic and foreign market potential on the total factor productivity of manufacturing enterprises, and provides rich empirical evidence for using domestic super-large-scale market to drive the high-quality development of Chinese manufacturing industry.
The main policy recommendations of this paper are as follows: The government should improve the income distribution system, improve the social security system, cultivate Internet commerce, develop new consumption patterns, and continuously increase residents' consumption willingness and activate potential consumption. At the same time, the government should improve the unified system, adhere to the optimization of the business environment, promote the construction of a unified national market, and accelerate the formation of a new development pattern, so as to promote the high-quality development of Chinese economy.
