Capital, administrative burden, and welfare participation: Evidence from the minimum living standard scheme in China

Abstract Administrative burden in citizen‐state interactions has received increasing attention. Building upon existing literature on its antecedents and consequences, this study further examines how financial, human, social, and political capital are associated with administrative burden and how three dimensions of administrative burden (i.e., learning, compliance, and psychological costs) are associated with welfare participation. Using unique data from the minimum living standard scheme in China and running a series of logistic regressions, this study finds that different types of capital impact various administrative costs differently. Specifically, financial, human, and social capital play important roles in administrative burden, but political capital is not significantly associated with three administrative costs. Moreover, learning and compliance costs are significantly negatively related to welfare participation, whereas psychological costs have no significant relationship with welfare participation. This study reveals the complexity of the impact of capital forms on administrative burden and the impact of administrative costs on welfare participation.