How Urban Public Services Influence Employment Quality of Floating Population: What Is the Role of Countrymen's Aggregation and Intensive Labour Market

ABSTRACT Promoting the joint construction and sharing of urban public services is of great significance in breaking down the barriers of registered residence and improving the employment quality of the floating population. This study empirically examines how urban public services shape the quality of employment among the floating population, employing dynamic monitoring survey microdata alongside a comprehensive urban public service index at the city level. Our findings reveal that enhanced urban public services are significantly associated with improved employment quality, a result that endures across a battery of robustness tests. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that the positive influence of urban public services is primarily transmitted through two channels: the aggregation of countrymen—which fosters social capital and facilitates labour market information exchange—and the development of intensive labour markets that catalyse innovation and elevate job matching efficiency. Notably, local fiscal pressures are found to mitigate these beneficial effects. Further heterogeneity analysis indicates that the impact of urban public services is asymmetric: the enhancement of employment quality is particularly pronounced among individual migrants, family groups migrating with couples and children, inter‐provincial migrants and those opting to work in larger urban centres. These empirical insights contribute a vital theoretical foundation and robust evidence base for optimising the allocation of urban public service resources, thereby promoting social integration and sustainable, high‐quality employment within rapidly urbanising human settlements.