“Active Government + Effective Market” Collaboration Driving the Improvement of Public Sports Service Efficiency: Mechanisms and Pathways Based on Empirical Evidence from 30 Provinces

“Active Government + Effective Market” Collaboration Driving the Improvement of Public Sports Service Efficiency: Mechanisms and Pathways Based on Empirical Evidence from 30 Provinces | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article “Active Government + Effective Market” Collaboration Driving the Improvement of Public Sports Service Efficiency: Mechanisms and Pathways Based on Empirical Evidence from 30 Provinces YAN Jing, Li Kunyu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8903687/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 16 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Against the backdrop of the ongoing “Healthy China” strategy and the construction of a sports power, how to improve the efficiency of public sports services through the collaboration of government and market has become an important issue in the modernization of the sports governance system. Methods This paper integrates the active government and effective market into the same analytical framework, and empirically tests the impact and mechanism of their collaboration on the efficiency of public sports services using panel data from 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China from 2015 to 2022. Results The study finds that: (1) The benchmark regression test shows that the collaboration between the government and market can significantly improve the efficiency of public sports services.(2) Mechanism analysis indicates that the collaboration promotes financial development, industrial structure upgrading, and the concentration of innovative talent, which empowers the improvement of public sports service efficiency.(3) Further research finds that the collaboration has a more significant impact on improving the efficiency of public sports services in the central and western regions; at the same time, increases in education, culture, and healthcare expenditures can further enhance the promotion effect of their collaboration on the efficiency of public sports services. Conclusions The research conclusions reveal the intrinsic logic of government-market collaboration in promoting the improvement of public sports service efficiency, providing empirical evidence and policy references for improving the public sports service system and promoting the high-quality development of the sports industry. Active government Efficient market Service efficiency of national fitness Synergy effect Mechanism of action Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 22 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 30 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 21 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 19 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 12 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 10 Mar, 2026 Editor invited by journal 18 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 17 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 17 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 17 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8903687","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":605110997,"identity":"152ba0aa-5bca-4e38-a54e-dcf0bb0035ae","order_by":0,"name":"YAN Jing","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"YAN","middleName":"","lastName":"Jing","suffix":""},{"id":605110998,"identity":"f3ad1671-a90c-4251-b469-8313cc4855d4","order_by":1,"name":"Li Kunyu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAvklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACgwNAgvGfhBwbe/sB4rQYNoBINgtjPp4zCcRpMQaTbBWJ8yQcDIjTYiaRe0yah0civU2CIYHhR8U2wlpsJPLSpHkkJHLbpBsPMPacuU2MlhwzaR4DoBaZAwnMjG1EaDEDa0mQSGeTSDAgTosxWMsBiQTitRj2vDG2nNsgYdgGDOSDRPnF4HiO4Y23DXXy8u3tBx/8qCBCCxCwSMBYB4hSDwTMH4hVOQpGwSgYBSMUAAC0YTRfhJytgAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Li","middleName":"","lastName":"Kunyu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-17 18:38:44","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8903687/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8903687/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104781308,"identity":"512a1d13-4835-4ade-8303-0df97d6bd437","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-17 07:55:22","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":613882,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"1BMCword.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8903687/v1_covered_bc40d4bf-9a5d-41cf-b98c-0b6a595673f5.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"“Active Government + Effective Market” Collaboration Driving the Improvement of Public Sports Service Efficiency: Mechanisms and Pathways Based on Empirical Evidence from 30 Provinces","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-public-health","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"pubh","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Public Health](http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/pubh/default.aspx","title":"BMC Public Health","twitterHandle":"@BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Active government, Efficient market, Service efficiency of national fitness, Synergy effect, Mechanism of action","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8903687/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8903687/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAgainst the backdrop of the ongoing \u0026ldquo;Healthy China\u0026rdquo; strategy and the construction of a sports power, how to improve the efficiency of public sports services through the collaboration of government and market has become an important issue in the modernization of the sports governance system.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis paper integrates the active government and effective market into the same analytical framework, and empirically tests the impact and mechanism of their collaboration on the efficiency of public sports services using panel data from 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China from 2015 to 2022.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe study finds that: (1) The benchmark regression test shows that the collaboration between the government and market can significantly improve the efficiency of public sports services.(2) Mechanism analysis indicates that the collaboration promotes financial development, industrial structure upgrading, and the concentration of innovative talent, which empowers the improvement of public sports service efficiency.(3) Further research finds that the collaboration has a more significant impact on improving the efficiency of public sports services in the central and western regions; at the same time, increases in education, culture, and healthcare expenditures can further enhance the promotion effect of their collaboration on the efficiency of public sports services.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusions\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe research conclusions reveal the intrinsic logic of government-market collaboration in promoting the improvement of public sports service efficiency, providing empirical evidence and policy references for improving the public sports service system and promoting the high-quality development of the sports industry.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"“Active Government + Effective Market” Collaboration Driving the Improvement of Public Sports Service Efficiency: Mechanisms and Pathways Based on Empirical Evidence from 30 Provinces","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-13 18:01:44","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8903687/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-23T03:01:46+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-30T12:52:45+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-22T03:04:18+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-19T07:49:50+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"310871741242936108326780411953086743338","date":"2026-03-18T07:57:18+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"133915911473019983794376511797899928712","date":"2026-03-18T04:17:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"70366437267237954143459212267352363989","date":"2026-03-18T01:57:27+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"7931523976558979746650465193707802067","date":"2026-03-17T17:03:57+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-13T03:28:39+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"221876378230063403568587006361906432414","date":"2026-03-13T02:26:57+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"316604526770015823149083095402512001471","date":"2026-03-11T14:46:34+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-03-10T12:57:29+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2026-02-18T07:04:51+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-02-18T03:27:47+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-02-18T03:25:44+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Public Health","date":"2026-02-17T18:31:46+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-public-health","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"pubh","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Public Health](http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/pubh/default.aspx","title":"BMC Public Health","twitterHandle":"@BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"2c5f6454-58cd-4f76-99d9-f397337ec36d","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 13th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-13T18:01:44+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-13 18:01:44","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8903687","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8903687","identity":"rs-8903687","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}