供给侧结构性改革促进了城乡基本公共服务均等化吗?

Has the Supply-side Structural Reform Promoted the Equalization of Basic Public Services in Urban and Rural Areas?

在区域发展不均衡的现实背景下,政府能否通过深化供给侧结构性改革提升基本公共服务供给水平,进而促进城乡基本公共服务均等化具有重要的现实意义。基于2010—2021年268个地级市面板数据,利用熵权法分别测度城市与农村基本公共服务供给水平,并引入信息熵概念计算得出均等化程度,据此进一步进行回归分析。研究结果表明:供给侧结构性改革对基本公共服务供给水平的提升具有促进作用,并且供给侧结构性改革通过提升公共服务财政支出水平与加强数字基础设施建设两条作用路径提升城乡基本公共服务均等化程度。此外,对西部和低均等化城市而言,供给侧结构性改革对城乡基本公共服务均等化程度的促进作用更加明显。研究的政策启示在于:实现城乡基本公共服务均等化的目标,仍需持续推进供给侧结构性改革,尤其需要发挥公共服务财政支出的调节作用,并进一步提升数字基础设施建设水平及其赋能功效;同时根据区域发展情况、均等化程度实施差异化供给策略,提升公共服务供给侧结构性改革的精准度和有效性。

Achieving the equalization of basic public services is crucial for implementing the new development concept and advancing Chinese modernization.In the context of highly uneven regional development,a pressing question arises:can the government enhance basic public service provision and promote the equalization of basic public services between urban and rural areas by deepening supply-side structural reform?This is an important theoretical and practical proposition.An evaluation index system for urban and rural basic public service supply levels is developed to address this critical issue.Utilizing panel data from 268 prefecture-level cities spanning from 2010 to 2021,this study employs the entropy weight method to measure the supply levels of basic public services in urban and rural areas.Furthermore,information entropy is introduced to calculate urban-rural basic public service equalization for further regression analyses.The results indicate that the supply-side structural reform significantly enhances the supply level of basic public services in both urban and rural areas.This reform not only increases the overall supply but also plays a pivotal role in reducing the disparity between urban and rural basic public service supply levels.In other words,it enhances the equalization of basic public services between urban and rural regions.These findings are robust and provide a strong empirical foundation for policy recommendations.Further mediating tests reveal that the effectiveness of the supply-side structural reform in promoting the equalization of basic public services is primarily realized through two pathways.The first pathway involves increasing fiscal expenditure on public services.This is achieved by expanding the overall scale of fiscal expenditure and adjusting its structure to ensure a more equitable distribution of resources.The second pathway focuses on enhancing the construction of digital infrastructure.Heterogeneity tests show that the supply-side structural reform has a more pronounced effect on urban-rural basic public service equalization for cities in the western region and cities with low equalization.The policy implications are summarized as follows:to achieve the goal of urban-rural basic public service equalization,it is still necessary to promote the supply-side structural reform in the field of public services;it is necessary to play the role of regulating fiscal expenditure on public services,focusing on expanding the coverage and precision of supply;and bridging the gap in the distribution of basic public service resources in regions with different levels of development through the establishment of an improved online service platform to improve urban-rural basic public service equalization in an orderly manner.In addition,differentiated supply strategies should be implemented according to regions and the degree of equalization to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the supply-side structural reform in the field of public services.