How does digital government affect high-quality employment? Evidence from China

Governments around the world are actively promoting the construction of digital government to improve the public service value and serve the economic and social development more effectively. This study aims to explore the impact of digital government on macro high-quality employment (MQE) and the influencing mechanism in the context of developing countries facing severe employment problems. We develop a six-dimensional MQE index system and use two-way fixed effects (FE) model and U-test method to explore the nonlinear relationship between digital government and MQE. The main findings are as follows. First, the level of MQE is constantly improving, but there are great differences between provinces. Second, there is a significant U-shaped relationship between the digital government and MQE; that is, when the digital government development index has not exceeded the critical value, it has an inhibiting effect on MQE, and when the digital government development index reaches the critical value, the digital government will have a promoting effect on the improvement of MQE. Third, the improvement effect of digital government on MQE is mainly achieved through enhancing the digital industrialization scale and promoting economic development. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that in the eastern and central regions, in provinces with high human capital level, digital government and MQE show a U-shaped relationship, but in the western regions and provinces with low human capital level, the U-shaped relationship is not significant. From the perspective of different MQE dimensions, digital government has a significant non-linear effect on both the quantity and quality of employment. Therefore, the government should accelerate the development of digital government beyond the critical level to promote MQE and people’s well-being.