Abstract
Focusing on the theoretical logic of Chinese government sports expenditure promoting public participation in sports, this study takes 31 provinces (cities, autonomous regions) in China as research objects and uses fsQCA to explore the configurational pathways of government sports expenditure affecting public participation in sports. Using the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method, and taking the Sports Industry Statistical Yearbook (2020 data) as the data source, this paper discusses how government sports expenditure can improve the level of public participation in sports through different combinations of driving factors. The results show that there are four effective condition combination paths, which can be summarized as the dual-core drive of "technological innovation + sports culture promotion and dissemination" and the "key housing support guarantee type" path, both of which are particularly crucial for improving public participation in physical activity. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of diversified investment in government sports expenditure for enhancing public participation in physical activity, suggesting that the government should adopt a cross-departmental resource integration strategy to build a comprehensive ecosystem supporting physical activity participation.