The effect of digital government construction on the enhancement of public governance capacity: An analysis based on financial information transparency

With the widespread advancement of digital transformation in government governance, exploring how the construction of digital government affects public governance capacity has become a hot topic in academia and policy practice. Based on provincial panel data from China spanning from 2010 to 2023, this study constructs an empirical model to systematically analyze the impact mechanism of digital government on public governance capacity. The research first verifies the positive relationship between the level of digital government construction and public governance capacity. Further regional heterogeneity analysis reveals significant differences in the promoting effect of digital government construction on public governance capacity across different geographical areas. In mechanism testing, this paper introduces the application of digital technology as a mediating variable, revealing its critical mediating role in the process of digital government influencing public governance capacity. Additionally, financial information transparency is incorporated into the analysis of the moderating effect, indicating that it has a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between digital government and public governance capacity, and this moderating effect exhibits heterogeneity across different geographical regions.