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Li Dongkun, Xing Wenxin, Lu Huizhong This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7549076/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Wage income constitutes a fundamental benchmark for evaluating the quality of regional development and serves as a crucial indicator for retrospectively assessing the effectiveness of administrative division adjustments. This study utilizes the new round “county-to-city” policy as a quasi-natural experiment, employing a difference-in-differences approach to investigate the impact and mechanisms of administrative division adjustment policies on wage income. The results demonstrate that the implementation of the “county-to-city” policy significantly increases wage income. This policy fosters wage income growth through two primary channels: attracting investment to create jobs, and improving human capital by developing education. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the policy exhibits regional disparities, with more pronounced effects observed in areas adjacent to urban centers and regions experiencing net population inflows. This study highlights how administrative division adjustments reshape public resource allocation, providing valuable insights for advancing county-centered urbanization. “County-to-city” policy Wage income Urbanization Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted 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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