Public Security Expenditure, Education Investment, and Social Stability: An Empirical Analysis Based on Provincial Panel Data from China

Public security expenditure is a financial means for maintaining social stability and can significantly inhibit growth in crime rate. However, the role of education investment in this relationship and the existence of regional heterogeneity have been neglected in existing studies. To explore the effects of public security expenditure and education investment on social stability, the provincial panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2007-2015 were examined, and the fixed-effect model was employed to analyze the relationship between public security expenditure, education investment, and social stability. Results show that public security expenditure and education investment have a significant negative effect on crime rate, and social stability can be enhanced by increasing public security expenditure and education investment. The social stabilizing effects of public security expenditure and education investment are more significant in areas with high sex ratio and low urbanization level. Additionally, crime can be more effectively curbed and social stability more effectively maintained by complementing public security expenditure with education investment. This study reveals the impact of regional heterogeneity on the social stabilizing effects of public security expenditure and education investment, as well as the coupling mechanism between them. The conclusions obtained in the study provide a theoretical basis and reference for formulating fiscal policies for public security.