Local Government Governance Capacity, Audit Supervision, and the Equalization Level of Basic Public Services: Evidence from Yangtze River Delta Region in China

Enhancing local government governance capacity and promoting the equalization level of basic public services are critical steps toward achieving common prosperity. This article empirically studies the impact of local government governance capacity on the equalization of basic public service with a system generalized method of moments (sys-GMM) and examines the moderating effect of audit supervision. The findings indicate that the equalization degree of basic public services can be considerably increased by local government governance capacity and the dimensions of resource governance capacity and tool governance capacity. The revealing and rectifiable function of audit has a positive moderating effect in the governance of equal provision of basic public services for government. Therefore, the Yangtze River Delta Region in China should continue to play the role of audit supervision, strengthen the governance capacity for government, and further promote the equalization of basic public service provision.