How do government-guided funds enhance employment scale?: evidence from China

Drawing on prefecture-level panel data from 2007 to 2023 and government-guided fund data from the Zero2IPO Private Equity Database, this study employs a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) model to examine the impact of government-guided funds on regional employment, along with the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions. The findings reveal that: (1) government-guided funds significantly enhance regional employment scale; (2) the employment effect operates through four channels: amplifying venture capital, increasing financial loans, augmenting fiscal expenditure on employment, and stimulating entrepreneurship; (3) the effect is stronger in peripheral cities, non-eastern regions, and the secondary sector, with venture capital funds outperforming industrial investment funds, while PPP funds show no significant effect; and (4) local fiscal expenditures on science and technology, education, and environmental protection reinforce this employment impact, highlighting the value of policy synergy.