How Does Corruption Control Shape Administrative Burden on Businesses? The Moderating Role of Political Attention and Digital Government

Administrative burden is a growing focus in public administration, yet research on business administrative burden remains limited, with most studies emphasizing citizens. Additionally, the role of ethical governance, particularly corruption control, in shaping administrative burden has been largely overlooked. This study addresses these gaps by examining the impact of corruption control on business administrative burden and the moderating effects of political attention and digital government. Using multisource data from China and various empirical methods, the findings confirm that corruption control reduces business time and money burdens, though its effects vary across burden dimensions. Moreover, political attention strengthens the role of corruption control, reinforcing its impact on burden reduction. However, contrary to expectations, digital government does not significantly enhance the effect of corruption control in most empirical models. These findings highlight the importance of corruption control and political attention in reducing administrative burdens and call for more nuanced approaches to leveraging digital government in regulatory reforms.