Higher education quality improvement and economic growth in China

Zilian Li and Naili Sun

Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 2025, vol. 30, issue 2, 427-450

Abstract: This study presents a transmission mechanism that sheds light on the relationship between higher education quality improvement and economic growth performance. To evaluate this relationship, we employ panel models with a macro-level higher education quality index to investigate national and regional samples of China from 1999 to 2018. Our analysis reveals several key findings: (1) Higher education quality improvement has a direct effect on economic growth, although its contribution to rapid economic growth has been relatively small given the increased enrollment in higher education. (2) Higher education quality improvement has an indirect effect on economic growth via the promotion of technological innovation. (3) Factor inputs on the supply side, market opening on the institutional side, new urbanization, and infrastructure continue to be vital drivers of sustained economic growth. Our empirical results underscore the importance of improving higher education quality for facilitating China’s high-quality development in the new era.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/13547860.2023.2295770

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