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The Educational Level of Rural Labor, Population Urbanization, and Sustainable Economic Growth in China

Author

Listed:
  • Shu Cao

    (School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150000, China)

  • Nannan Yu

    (School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150000, China)

  • Yang Wu

    (School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China)

  • Zihe Wang

    (International Education Centre, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China)

  • Jianing Mi

    (School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150000, China)

Abstract

Since the 1978 economic reform, China has undergone a historical process of rapid urbanization. Although this process has been recognized as a key factor in the development of sustainable growth in China, low quality rural labor continues to limit the effectiveness of the country’s urbanization. Our study uses a spatial analysis framework to explore how the education level of rural laborers moderates the effect of urbanization on economic growth with provincial data collected from 1996 to 2015. Our results reveal that the influence of population urbanization on sustainable growth is mediated by the improvement of consumption capacity of urban dwellers and the industrial structural changes. The education level of rural laborers adjusts the urbanization’s influence on the consumption capacity of residents, which further affects economic growth. Empirical evidence indicates that the educationally limited rural population negatively moderates the impact of urbanization on sustainable economic growth by restraining the consumption capacity of migrating rural labor. It is also found that in some provinces with less-qualified rural labor, such as Gansu, Yunnan and Qinghai, population urbanization has not contributed to a corresponding economic growth, indicating that these provinces may have undergone urbanization without growth. These findings suggest that basic education is critical to the growth of income and consumption capacities of rural labor when laborers are migrating to urban areas. To achieve a valid urbanization process and sustainable growth, state and local governments must improve the basic education scheme, especially the nine-year compulsory education in Chinese rural areas through public financial investment and policy support.

Suggested Citation

  • Shu Cao & Nannan Yu & Yang Wu & Zihe Wang & Jianing Mi, 2020. "The Educational Level of Rural Labor, Population Urbanization, and Sustainable Economic Growth in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-14, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:12:p:4860-:d:371529
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yushi Zhang & Tianhang Jiang & Jun Sun & Zitian Fu & Yanfeng Yu, 2022. "Sustainable Development of Urbanization: From the Perspective of Social Security and Social Attitude for Migration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-15, August.
    2. Jia Wan & Liwei Zhang & Junping Yan & Xiaomeng Wang & Ting Wang, 2020. "Spatial–Temporal Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Coupled Coordination between Urbanization and Eco-Environment: A Case Study of 13 Urban Agglomerations in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-22, October.
    3. Yuqing Geng & Han Zhang, 2021. "Coordinated Interactions of Sustainable Urbanization Dimensions: Case Study in Hunan, China," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, April.

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