A Research on the Impact of Urban-Rural Public Service Gap on Urban-Rural Income Gap

Abstract

The urban-rural public service gap will not only affect the income gap between urban and rural residents, but also counteract many policies that have been put in place to reduce the income gap. This paper makes a detailed analysis of the mechanism of urban-rural public service gap on urban-rural income gap, and uses static and dynamic panel regression models to examine the impact of urban-rural basic public service gap on urban-rural income gap from multiple dimensions. The results are as follows: The widening gap of education, health care and social security services between urban and rural areas will significantly aggravate the income gap between urban and rural areas. Based on cross-period research, the impact of basic public service gap on urban-rural income gap is more significant at this stage; based on regional heterogeneity, the impact of urban-rural education gap and social security gap on urban-rural income gap in the western region is the most significant, and the impact of western transportation construction on alleviating urban-rural income gap is the most significant. In view of the research conclusions, this paper argues that governments at all levels must change their development concepts from urban development to coordinated urban and rural development, and make use of the poverty alleviation strategy” and the rural revitalization strategy” to increase investment in rural education, medical care, social security and transportation infrastructure, so as to narrow the gap between urban and rural basic public services. At the same time, governments at all levels should increase the investment in rural talents and capital, make up for the shortcomings of rural development, encourage rural economic organizations and leading enterprises to play a leading role in demonstration, strengthen the training of rural labor force, and so on, so as to increase farmers’ income.