The Evolution of Human Capital Distribution across City in China: —Patterns and Determinants

Abstract

Abstract: This paper investigates the patterns and determinants of human capital distribution across cities in China. Using the population census data in 2010, we firstly discover the facts that the number of high skilled labourer decreases with the distance to the three major seaports. The growth of high skilled workers has the similar patterns. Secondly, we review and study the determinants of location choices in terms of economic facts, non-economic facts and moving costs. We use the location choice behavior of graduate students to study the role of non-institutional moving costs. The results based on the Conditional Logit Model shows that the graduates are more likely to work in cities near their hometown provinces and the cities where the graduate schools locate. The PHD graduates have higher elasticity to distance. The above conclusions give strong policy implication for the local governments.

Key words: human capital, housing price, public service, moving cost, distance, conditional logit model

CLC Number:

LI Qi, YAN Gong-cui. The Evolution of Human Capital Distribution across City in China: —Patterns and Determinants[J]. Journal of Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, 2020(01): 9-20.

References

[1] World Bank. World Development Report 2009:Reshaping Economic Geography[M]. 2008, World Bank.
[2] Duranton G.&Puga D., 2004, Micro-Foundations of Urban Agglomeration Economies[C].Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics,in:J. V. Henderson&J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Amsterdam and New York:Elsevier. 2004:2063-2117.
[3] Glaeser, Edward L. and Lu, Ming. Human-Capital Externalities in China[J]. NBER Working Paper,2018, NO. 24925.
[4] Lucas R. E.. On the Mechanics of Economic Development[J]. Journal of Monetary Economics, 1988,22(1):3-42.
[5] Rosenthal S. S.&Strange W. C.. The Attenuation of Human Capital Spillovers[J]. Journal of Urban Economics, 2008, 64(2):373-389.
[6] Winters J. V.. Human Capital Externalities and Employment Differences across Metropolitan Areas of the USA[J]. Journal of Economic Geography, 2013,13(5):799-822.
[7] 梁文泉、陆铭.城市人力资本的分化:探索不同技能劳动者的互补和空间集聚[J].经济社会体制比较,2015(3):185-197.
[8] Costa, D. L. and Kahn, M. E., Power Couples:Changes in the Locational Choice of the College Educated, 1940-1990[J]. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2000, 115(4):1287-1315.
[9] Crescenzi, R., Holman, N. and Orru, E.. Why Do they Return?Beyond the Economic Drivers of Graduate Return Migration[J]. The Annals of Regional Science, 2017, 59(3):603-627.
[10] 陆铭,向宽虎.地理与服务业——内需是否会使城市体系分散化?[J].经济学(季刊),2012,11(3):1079-1096.
[11] 陆铭.空间的力量:地理、政治与城市发展(第2版)[M].上海:格致出版社和上海人民出版社,2017.
[12] 陆铭,李鹏飞,钟辉勇.发展与平衡的新时代——新中国70年的空间政治经济学[J],管理世界,2019(10):11-23.
[13] Eeckhout, J., R. Pinheiro and K. Schmidheiny. Spatial Sorting[J]. Journal of Political Economy, 2014,122(3):554-620.
[14] Kuminoff, N. V., Smith, V. K. and Timmins, C. The New Economics of Equilibrium Sorting and Policy Evaluation Using Housing Markets[J], Journal of Economic Literature, 2013,51(4):1007-1062.
[15] Tiebout, C.. A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures[J]. Journal of Political Economy, 1956,64(4):416-424.
[16] Bayoh, I., E. Irwin and T. Haab. Determinants of Residential Location Choice:How Important are Local Public Goods in Attracting Homeowners to Central Locations?[J], Journal of Regional Science, 2006, 46:97-120.
[17] Dahlberg, M., M. Eklof, P. Fredriksson, and J. Jofre-Monseny. Estimating Preferences for Local Public Services Using Migration Data[J].Urban Studies, 2012,49(2):319-336.
[18] 乔宝云,范剑勇,冯兴元.中国的财政分权与小学义务教育[J].中国社会科学,2005(6):37-46.
[19] 夏怡然,陆铭.城市间的"孟母三迁"——公共服务影响劳动力流向的经验研究[J].管理世界,2015(10):78-89.
[20] Chen, S., P. Oliva, and P. Zhang. The Effect of Air Pollution on Migration:Evidence from China[J].2017, NBER Working Papers.
[21] 张吉鹏,卢冲.户籍制度改革与城市落户门槛的量化分析[J].经济学(季刊), 2019(2).
[22] Zhang, J. and Zhao, Z. Measuring the Income-Distance Tradeoff for Rural-Urban Migrants in China[J].IZA DP, 2013, No. 7160.
[23] Xing, C. and Zhang, J. The Preference for Larger Cities in China:Evidence for Rural-Urban Migrants[J].China Economic Review, 2017, 43:72-90.
[24] Glaeser, E. L. and Shapiro, J. Is There a New Urbanism The Growth of U.S. Cities in the 1990s[J].2001, NBER Working Paper, No. 8357.
[25] Carree, M. A. and Kronenberg, K. Locational Choices and the Costs of Distance:Empirical Evidence for Dutch Graduates[J]. Spatial Economic Analysis,2014, 9(4):420-435.