Human Capital Structure and Economic Growth: From the Perspective of New Structural Economics*

Feng Jun (冯)1 and Li Mingfeng (李明锋)2

1 National Academy of Economic Strategy (NAES), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Beijing, China
2 Policy Research Center of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, China

Abstract: The Chinese economy has achieved remarkable development over the past 40 years of reform and opening-up. However, with the narrowing of potential for efficiency improvement from resources reallocation and changes in population age structure, the Chinese economy has moved from high-speed growth to high-quality development. In this setting, understanding factor endowment and comparative advantages of the economy from a perspective of human capital structure so as to enhance industrial structure adaptability by riding the trend is of significance for cultivating new driving force for economic development. This paper, following a theoretical paradigm of new structural economics,demonstrates how human capital structure matches industrial structure and the presence of optimal human capital structure using mathematical deduction. On this basis, national level panel data and instrumental variables are adopted for generalized method of moments, the results of which shows that there are varied impacts on economic growth in light of different human capital structure characteristics. The proportions of high-level human capital and medium-level human capital boost economic development, while that of low-level human capital has an inhibitory effect on economic growth. The policy implication of this study is that large economies should diversify efforts as per different human capital structure characteristics in terms of development need of tapping growth impetus from human capital structure improvement. It is of equal importance to raise the proportion of high and medium human capital in order to stimulate economic growth and to cut the proportion of low human capital that hinders economic development.

Keywords: human capital structure, economic growth, new structural economics
JEL Classification Codes: F43, J21, O12, O15, O57
DOI:1 0.19602/j .chinaeconomist.2019.11.03

¥0.01加入购物车