Effects and Mechanisms of Higher Education Development on Intelligent Productivity Advancement: An Empirical Analysis of Provincial Panel Data in China

Pan Liang () and Yuancao Chen ()
Additional contact information
Pan Liang: School of Public Administration, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
Yuancao Chen: Finance Office, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 24, 1-19

Abstract: In the digital economy era, artificial intelligence implementation has accelerated the intellectualization of productive forces, emphasizing the critical relationship between higher education and this transformation. As the primary conduit for developing advanced human capital, the mechanisms through which higher education adapts to and promotes emerging productive forces require systematic examination. This research establishes a theoretical framework demonstrating the synchronous relationship between higher education development and productive force intellectualization, proposing that higher education development provides essential momentum for this transformation. The framework validation employed panel data analysis from 31 Chinese provinces (2012–2022) using fixed-effects (FE) and mediation effect models. The FE model reveals a positive effect coefficient of 1.561 for higher education development on intelligent productive force enhancement ( p < 0.01), indicating substantial promotion of productive force intellectualization without saturation effects. Mediation effect analysis confirms the significance of three mediating factors—labor, capital, and technology ( p < 0.05)—validating the influence pathways through human capital, material support, and research innovation mechanisms. The research innovation mechanism demonstrates premier efficacy, while material support mechanisms indicate optimization potential. The human capital mechanism, despite its promise, exhibits implementation time lags. These findings suggest prioritizing intelligent technology talent development, enhancing research investment, and strengthening innovation capabilities to advance higher education’s role in productive force intellectualization.

Keywords: higher education development; educational empowerment; intelligent productivity advancement; human capital reserve; research innovation mechanism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/24/11197/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/24/11197/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:24:p:11197-:d:1548513

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().