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Effects of Higher Education Levels on Total Factor Productivity Growth

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  • Jie Liu

    (School of Humanities, Economics and Laws, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China)

  • Chao Bi

    (International Business School, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China)

Abstract

China is facing challenges to sustainable economic growth. Higher education of Chinese residents can affect total factor productivity (TFP) growth and hence has an influence on economic sustainability. However, currently, there is limited literature on the nexus between higher education and TFP in China. Therefore, this paper empirically analyzes the heterogeneous and spatial effect of higher education on the regional TFP growth using a dynamic spatial econometric model with provincial panel data from 2003 to 2016. The results indicate that different levels of higher education have significant effects on TFP growth and are mainly reflected in the spatial spillover effect. Bachelor and doctoral education (particularly doctoral education) demonstrated significant positive effects, whereas the technical school and master education had significant negative effects. When decomposing this effect into technical efficiency and technical progress to explore the mechanism of influences, the latter plays the major role. Therefore, the Chinese government can promote TFP growth and economic sustainability by expanding the scale of bachelor and doctoral education and improving the quality of technical and master education.

Suggested Citation

  • Jie Liu & Chao Bi, 2019. "Effects of Higher Education Levels on Total Factor Productivity Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-12, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:6:p:1790-:d:216923
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    2. Bai, Xuejie & Sun, Xianzhen & Chiu, Yung-Ho, 2020. "Does China's higher education investment play a role in industrial growth?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    3. Shaohua Zhang & Tzu-Pu Chang & Li-Chuan Liao, 2020. "A Dual Challenge in China’s Sustainable Total Factor Productivity Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-17, July.
    4. Harman Preet Singh & Ajay Singh & Fakhre Alam & Vikas Agrawal, 2022. "Impact of Sustainable Development Goals on Economic Growth in Saudi Arabia: Role of Education and Training," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-25, October.
    5. Frank Bannor & Isaiah Hubert Magambo & Jugal Mahabir & Jeanluc Mubenga Tshitaka, 2023. "Interdependence between climate change and migration: Does agriculture, geography, and development level matter in sub‐Saharan Africa?," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 91(2), pages 141-160, June.
    6. Vivian Thuso Molaodi, 2022. "Assessing the effect of education levels on economic growth in South Africa," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 11(10), pages 366-374, December.
    7. Hao Yao & Xiulin Gu & Qing Yu, 2023. "Impact of Graduate Student Expansion and Innovative Human Capital on Green Total Factor Productivity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-15, January.
    8. Espoir, Delphin Kamanda & Sunge, Regret, 2021. "CO₂ Emissions and Economic Development in Africa: Evidence from A Dynamic Spatial Panel Model," EconStor Preprints 234131, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

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