Wang Yue, Zhu Honggen, Aziz Noshaba, Liu Yu
Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, 210014 China.
School of Economics, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing, 210023 China.
Soc Indic Res. 2023;165(2):431-452. doi: 10.1007/s11205-022-03021-5. Epub 2022 Oct 17.
Despite the extensive literature on the effectiveness of public service, measuring it from the user's side among rural-to-urban groups is limited. Moreover, although rich research has explored the factors influencing the effectiveness of public service, in-depth micro-level analysis is scarcely addressed. The current study addresses these gaps by examining the relationship between social capital and the effectiveness of public service in Jiangsu province of China. Overall, the findings revealed that migrant's social capital positively affects their perceptions of public service provision. Specifically, the structural dimension of social capital plays a role in expanding information channels. In contrast, the relational dimension of social capital works through shared norms and trust, eventually improving migrants' fairness perception. Notably, these effects are more prominent in education, employment assistance, and minimum livelihood security than in other services. Further, the findings revealed that regional differences are more pronounced in the central part of the study area, where the current public service system is weak. Put differently; social capital can have a more significant effect when the construction of public service is constrained. It is also found that social capital plays a more important role for migrants working in the manufacturing industry than in other sectors. This study has significant implications for policymakers with a new perspective of social capital for improving the quality of public service and making it more available to migrants.
尽管关于公共服务有效性的文献众多，但从农村到城市群体中的用户角度对其进行衡量的研究却很有限。此外，虽然已有丰富的研究探讨了影响公共服务有效性的因素，但很少涉及深入的微观层面分析。本研究通过考察中国江苏省社会资本与公共服务有效性之间的关系来填补这些空白。总体而言，研究结果表明，移民的社会资本对他们对公共服务提供的认知有积极影响。具体而言，社会资本的结构维度在拓展信息渠道方面发挥作用。相比之下，社会资本的关系维度通过共享规范和信任起作用，最终提高移民的公平感认知。值得注意的是，这些影响在教育、就业援助和最低生活保障方面比在其他服务方面更为突出。此外，研究结果表明，在研究区域的中部，当前公共服务体系薄弱，地区差异更为明显。换句话说，当公共服务建设受到制约时，社会资本可能会产生更显著的影响。研究还发现，社会资本对在制造业工作的移民比对其他行业的移民发挥着更重要的作用。本研究为政策制定者提供了一个新的社会资本视角，对提高公共服务质量并使其更惠及移民具有重要意义。
