IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0321466.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public services and agglomeration effect under spatial structure: Threshold verification on the provincial capital cities in China

Author

Listed:
  • Mei-Qi Li
  • Ziyan Li
  • Wei Zhang
  • Zehao Wang
  • Yong Zhang

Abstract

This paper explains the relationship between public services expenditure and agglomeration economy from the perspective of spatial structure, considering that the allocation of public service expenditure by local governments does not fully leverage the benefits of agglomeration effects. We constructed a general equilibrium model that examines the close relationship between public service expenditure and agglomeration effect. From a spatial structure perspective, regions are categorized into monocentric and polycentric spatial structures. We discussed the scale of urban expansion and the level of public service expenditure in secondary cities across these different types of spatial structures. It was examined 31 provincial capitals of China as research samples to validate the applicability of theoretical mechanism analysis. Six models were constructed using 2S-GMM to investigate the relationship between the public service expenditure and agglomeration effect. Meanwhile, the PTR method was employed to develop 36 models to assess the threshold effect of urban expansion scale and public service expenditure in the second city of the region, focusing on the influence mechanism of public service expenditure allocation on the agglomeration effect. Three noteworthy conclusions are as follows: (1) the scale and structure of public service expenditure has a positive influence on agglomeration effect. (2) in monocentric structure areas, we should focus on the impact of the public services expenditure structure on agglomeration effect in the changes of urban scale. (3) in polycentric structure areas, we should focus on the impact of the public services expenditure structure on agglomeration effect in the changes of scale of public services in the second central city. This research not only have enhanced the theoretical influence mechanism of public service expenditure on the agglomeration effect from the perspective of spatial structure, but also offers guidance on the allocation of public service expenditure in provincial capital cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Mei-Qi Li & Ziyan Li & Wei Zhang & Zehao Wang & Yong Zhang, 2025. "Public services and agglomeration effect under spatial structure: Threshold verification on the provincial capital cities in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(5), pages 1-26, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0321466
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0321466
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0321466
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0321466&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0321466?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Han, Li & Kung, James Kai-Sing, 2015. "Fiscal incentives and policy choices of local governments: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 89-104.
    2. Stephen M. Miller & Frank S. Russek, 1997. "Fiscal Structures and Economic Growth at the State and Local Level," Public Finance Review, , vol. 25(2), pages 213-237, March.
    3. Shukla, Vibhooti & Stark, Oded, 1985. "On agglomeration economies and optimal migration," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 18(2-3), pages 297-300.
    4. Li, Sen & Li, Guangying, 2024. "Fiscal decentralization, government self-interest and fiscal expenditure structure bias," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1133-1147.
    5. Johann Heinrich Thünen, 2009. "The Isolated State in Relation to Agriculture and Political Economy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-27411-2 edited by Ulrich Suntum, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Haiqiang & Lin, Zhe, 2025. "Local fiscal pressure and new firm entry," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    2. Han, Yi & Wu, Mingqin, 2024. "Inter-regional barriers and economic growth: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    3. Sanz Labrador, Ismael & Sanz-Sanz, José Félix, 2013. "Política fiscal y crecimiento económico: consideraciones microeconómicas y relaciones macroeconómicas," Macroeconomía del Desarrollo 5367, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    4. Tang, Peng & Feng, Yue & Li, Min & Zhang, Yanyan, 2021. "Can the performance evaluation change from central government suppress illegal land use in local governments? A new interpretation of Chinese decentralisation," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    5. Zeru Jiang & Bo Zhang & Chunlai Yuan & Zhaojie Han & Jiangtao Liu, 2024. "Can Urban Sprawl Promote Enterprise Innovation? Evidence from A-Share Listed Companies in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-21, May.
    6. Waxman, Andrew & Liang, Yuanning & Li, Shanjun & Barwick, Panle Jia & Zhao, Meng, 2020. "Tightening belts to buy a home: Consumption responses to rising housing prices in urban China," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    7. Liu, Ruiming & Yan, Haosheng & Zhang, Zebang, 2024. "Does historic preservation affect firms' output? Evidence from the awarding of the Historic City title in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    8. Wenke Wang & Xiaoqiong You & Kebei Liu & Yenchun Jim Wu & Daming You, 2020. "Implementation of a Multi-Agent Carbon Emission Reduction Strategy under the Chinese Dual Governance System: An Evolutionary Game Theoretical Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-21, November.
    9. Xiong, Jiacai & Huang, Ling & Wang, Xin & Bai, Martin & Qin, Yafeng, 2024. "Local government fiscal stress and regional entrepreneurship: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 177-193.
    10. Lu, Shenghua & Wang, Hui, 2023. "How revolving-door recruitment makes firms stand out in land market: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. Yang, Xiaoliang & Barros, Lucy & Matthews, Kent & Meenagh, David, 2024. "The dynamics of redistribution, inequality and growth across China’s regions," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 613-637.
    12. Yang, Zhijiu & Ding, Hai, 2024. "Turning a blind eye: How local government fiscal distress affects the entry of energy-intensive enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    13. Harvie, Charles & Saleh, Ali Salman, 2008. "Lebanon's economic reconstruction after the war: A bridge too far?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 857-872.
    14. Ding, Haoyuan & Ni, Bei & Xue, Chang & Zhang, Xiaoyu, 2022. "Land holdings and outward foreign direct investment: Evidence from China," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    15. Zhang, Jianping & Xu, Runda & Chen, Jie, 2024. "Does industrial land marketization reform faciliate urban land use efficiency?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    16. Stephen M. Miller & Frank S. Russek, 2003. "The Relationship Between Large Fiscal Adjustments And Short‐Term Output Growth Under Alternative Fiscal Policy Regimes," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 21(1), pages 41-58, January.
    17. Qichun He & Meng Sun, 2018. "Does Fiscal Decentralization Increase the Investment Rate? Evidence from Chinese Panel Data," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 19(1), pages 75-101, May.
    18. Wen, Qiang & Zhang, Teng, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and industrial pollution: The role of environmental supervision by local governments," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    19. Xiaolun Yu, 2024. "Low‐rise buildings in big cities: Theory and evidence from China," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 52(2), pages 366-400, March.
    20. Nazila Alinaghi & W. Robert Reed, 2021. "Taxes and Economic Growth in OECD Countries: A Meta-analysis," Public Finance Review, , vol. 49(1), pages 3-40, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0321466. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.