Does Social Capital Improve the Effectiveness of Public Service? An Insight from Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China

Abstract

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.

Association between social capital and utilization of essential public health services among elderly migrants: a multilevel logistic study based on the 2017 China migrant dynamic survey (CMDS)

“…A survey focused on elderly migrants in Shenzhen and Guiyang found that it is more challenging for those who migrate across provinces to access relevant support resources [ 42 ]. They tended to actively interact with others and participate in social activities, to foster new interpersonal relationships as a means to accumulate social capital and gain access to welfare protections in their new locations [ 37 , 42 , 43 ].…”

“…A survey focused on elderly migrants in Shenzhen and Guiyang found that it is more challenging for those who migrate across provinces to access relevant support resources [42]. They tended to actively interact with others and participate in social activities, to foster new interpersonal relationships as a means to accumulate social capital and gain access to welfare protections in their new locations [37,42,43]. Social capital has a positive impact on the utilization of EPHS, as confirmed by previous studies, such as its ability to enhance the utilization rates of preventive health care services and family doctor services [44,45].…”

Slipping Through the Gap: Exploring the Influence of Social Health Insurance on Access to Healthcare for Older Migrant Workers

“…Simultaneously, OMWs face significant barriers to maintaining employment and experience multiple forms of discrimination based on factors like age and disability [12]. Existing studies have documented that migrant workers are underserved by the healthcare system in their current place of residence and lack sufficient social protection for their health and wellbeing [13][14][15]. However, these studies have not focused on OMWs.…”

Does Fiscal Decentralization Reduce Poverty? An insight from provincial level analysis in Pakistan

“…The authors used data from 1980 to 2019 and found mixed results as expenditure decentralization affected poverty positively, while revenue decentralization's impact was negative. The FD policy can only successfully mitigate poverty through autonomy, subgovernment transparency, and efficient management (Agegnehu & Dibu, 2017;Wang et al, 2023).…”

“…The main reason for such a result is the narrow tax base and generation of tax revenue through indirect taxes, which ultimately reduce the fiscal capacity of the provinces. Another reason for such a result is the ambiguity of boundaries between federal and provincial governments regarding the type of tax collection (Amaluddin, Payapo, Laitupa, & Serang, 2018;Wang et al, 2023;Zheng et al, 2023) The turning point of the inverted U-shaped relationship is calculated at 5, which narrates that the revenue decentralization should be more than 5% for the marginal provinces to reduce their poverty level if poverty is measured through IWI. The turning point for model 2 is 4.7 % when poverty is measured through MPI.…”