Crowding-Out or Crowding-In: Government Health Investment and Household Consumption

2023

The recent years' booming digital economy can not only benefit businesses, but also be an important way to improve people's wellbeing. This paper aimed to identify the relationship between the digital economy based on the “Broadband China” pilot policy and occupational health by applying DID method. The empirical results highlight that occupational health in the pilot cities of “Broadband China” are significantly improved compared with those in non-pilot cities, indicating that the digital economy can significantly improve occupational health. However, this effect varies across regions with different levels of economic development. Compared with developed areas, the digital economy has a more obvious effect on the improvement of occupational health in less developed areas, which indicates that this effect conforms to the law of diminishing marginal effect. Therefore, the digital economy should be continuously promoted to improve occupational health. Governments at all levels should strengthen the network infrastructure to provide a good basic environment for the development of the digital economy. At the same time, governments should introduce more detailed digital economy goals and programs according to the actual situation of their jurisdictions to fully release the economic and social benefits of the digital economy.

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of the digital economy on occupational health: A quasi-experiment based on “Broadband China” pilot

2023

“…The fourth variable considered is fixed asset investment. Improving fixed asset investment can help enterprises upgrade equipment and pursue technical transformation to improve the quality of public occupational health and reduce the number of safety accidents and deaths ( 44 ). This article uses the proportion of fixed assets investment of regional GDP as a measure.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Local Economic Growth Target Setting on the Quality of Public Occupational Health: Evidence From Provincial and City Government Work Reports in China

Deng

Cheng

et al. 2021

Self Cite

This article uses data from the government work reports of 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China and 21 cities in Guangdong Province of China to perform a fixed effect regression. It was found that economic growth target constraints and economic growth target gaps between countries and provinces, or between provinces and cities have a significant impact on the quality of public occupational health. The non-linear relationship between economic growth target setting and the quality of public occupational health was then discussed in detail, and the reliability of basic conclusions drawn was ensured by robustness and endogeneity tests. The results show that the effect of economic growth target constraints and gaps on the quality of public occupational health shows a “U-shaped” trend at both the provincial and city levels, which initially promotes and, eventually, inhibits. This relationship is closely related to the current economic system reforms, administrative reforms, and social transformation in China. Therefore, in emphasising high-quality economic development, the government should fully consider the actual state of the development of jurisdictions in setting economic goals to improve the quality of public occupational health in an orderly manner.

“…It directly affects the government's investment in public goods, infrastructure, and residents' health ( 33 ), as well as the degree of investment in the governance of the ecological environment. The second is fiscal expenditure ( Fe ), which reflects the government's fiscal decentralization, has a stimulating effect on economic growth targets ( 34 ), and is also an important factor in government investment in health ( 35 ). The pressure on economic growth targets may cause the government to relax environmental controls on industrial enterprises to achieve short-term goals.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Promote or Inhibit: Economic Goal Pressure and Residents' Health

Zhong

et al. 2021

This paper aimed to identify the relationship between the pressure to reach economic growth targets and residents' health by applying a panel fixed effects model, a Sobel-Goodman mediation effects test and a regulatory effects model to the inland provinces of China. The empirical results verify that the pressure to reach economic growth targets in these regions reduces the level of residents' health. Moreover, the effect in developing regions is significantly stronger than that in developed regions, and the effect in the northern region is significantly stronger than that in the southern region. The mediation effects test found that the pressure to reach economic growth targets has led to an upsurge in PM2.5 concentration and an increase in the output of industrial solid waste, thereby threatening residents' health. The regulatory effects model highlights that enhancing public awareness could weaken the negative impact of the pressure to reach economic growth targets on residents' health, while the expansion of industrial production will aggravate the negative impact. In the process of economic growth, the government should set reasonable economic growth targets, pay attention to the construction of the environmental protection legal system, implement energy- conservation and emission reduction measures and increase public awareness of environmental protection to ensure residents' health.