Inclusive Finance, Human Capital and Regional Economic Growth in China

Guangyou Zhou, Kuangxiong Gong, Sumei Luo and Guohu Xu
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Guangyou Zhou: School of Economics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Kuangxiong Gong: School of Economics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Sumei Luo: School of Finance, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai 200433, China
Guohu Xu: School of Business Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan 430073, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: Inclusive finance is an important financial development strategy in the world. The promoting effect of the human capital on economic growth has also gained theoretical and empirical support. This paper attempts to deeply examine the interaction among inclusive finance, human capital and regional economic growth as well as their mutual influence mechanism. To the end, data of 31 provinces and cities from 2005 to 2015 were chosen to build a corresponding panel data template. Meanwhile, the fixed effect model was adopted for an empirical test. Results suggest the following. (1) Inclusive finance and human capital can exert a significantly positive promoting effect on regional economic growth. The influence of inclusive finance on regional economic growth is more obvious, while the nonlinear influence of human capital is more significant; (2) Inclusive finance is observed to have a significantly negative influence on economic growth of China’s central region (mainly referring to eight provinces, including Shanxi). The positive promoting effect of inclusive finance on economic growth of China’s west region (mainly referring to 12 provinces and cities, including Chongqing) is found to be the most significant. Differently, human capital exerts the most significantly promoting effect on China’s central region. The economic development level differs in different regions of China. As an increasing number of talent resources gather in the central and western region of China and the financial system is built in the two regions, resource optimization has become a necessity, which is the linchpin to China’s sustainable economic development.

Keywords: inclusive finance; human capital; regional economic growth; panel data model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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