劳动力流动、技能匹配与地区经济差距

Labor Mobility, Skill Matching and Regional Economic Disparity

本文构建了一个包含异质性劳动者与技术溢出的中心—外围模型,在生产率动态变化背景下考察了不同类型劳动力流动对地区经济差距的影响,并将其应用于解释南北经济差距扩大。研究发现:技能匹配度是劳动力流动所形成的地区经济差距是否稳定的关键因素;当不考虑高技能劳动者时,劳动力流动能够推动地区经济差距收敛,但考虑高技能劳动者集聚效应与技术溢出后,劳动力流动不再必然推动地区经济差距收敛;迁移成本在不同情形下对地区经济差距的影响是异质性的:当不考虑高技能劳动者时,迁移成本是区域均衡发展的阻力;而考虑高技能劳动者之后,集聚效应、技术溢出以及技能匹配均可能成为地区经济差距扩大的原因,迁移成本有时反而会起到缩小地区经济差距的作用。本文研究为劳动力流动、技能匹配以及地区经济差距相关问题提供了一个可靠的理论分析框架,只有充分考虑劳动力流动的技能结构,才能准确判断其对地区经济差距的影响,从而更好地发挥区域政策的作用。

How different types of labor mobility affect economic growth through agglomeration and how to affect regional economic disparity through distributional economic growth are key links in understanding the relationship between labor mobility and regional economic disparity in China.In this paper,we construct a core-periphery model that includes heterogeneous workers and technology spillovers,examines the impact of different types of labor mobility on regional economic gaps in the context of productivity dynamics,and applies the model to explain the widening of the North-South economic gap.This paper finds that matching of workers with different skill levels is a key factor for the stability of the regional economic gap formed by labor mobility.When high-skilled workers are not took into account,labor mobility can promote the convergence of regional economic gaps;but when we consider the agglomeration effect of high-skilled workers and technology spillovers,subsequently,labor mobility no longer promotes the convergence of regional economic gaps.The impact of migration costs on regional economic gaps is heterogeneous in different situations.Taking into account high-skilled workers,we find that agglomeration effects,technology spillovers,and matching of workers with different skill levels may all be reasons for the widening of regional economic gaps,and migration costs sometimes play a role in narrowing regional economic gaps.This paper provides a reliable theoretical framework for analyzing labor mobility,matching of workers with different skill levels,and regional economic disparity.For labor mobility,only by fully considering the skill structure and distribution can one accurately judge its impact on regional economic disparity.The following policy implications can be drawn from the research in this paper.First,from the perspective of labor mobility and matching of workers with different skill levels,there is a certain contradiction between agglomeration efficiency and balanced development.In order to guide regional balanced development without excessive loss of agglomeration efficiency,we need to rationally guide the decentralization of medium-skilled and high-skilled workers while complying with the law of labor mobility.Second,it is difficult for the widening trend of the economic gap between the North and the South to reverse by itself.For the same migration ratio,the impact of the migration of medium-skilled workers on the regional economic gap is stronger than that of other types.Therefore,if policies can promote the development of the manufacturing sector in the North and improve the return of medium-skilled workers,this problem can be alleviated.Third,the reduction of migration costs such as relaxation of hukou policy and subsidies in high-skilled areas continues to attract the inflow of high-skilled workers.Such policy measures are likely to be effective locally,but they can easily trigger the Matthew effect and exacerbate regional development imbalances.The theoretical contribution of this paper can be summarized in three points.First,on the basis of Fujita&Thisse(2003),the endogenous matching mechanism of high,medium,and low skill types is embedded into the theoretical framework.Examining the impact of labor mobility on regional economic gaps from the perspective of matching not only provides a reasonable theoretical explanation for the migration puzzle from the perspective of skill heterogeneity,but also provides a new understanding of the mechanism of labor mobility on regional economic gaps.Second,this paper puts the endogenous real wages and migration decisions of high-skilled workers into the model.After considering the agglomeration effect and technology spillovers,with the migration of high-skilled workers,we find that productivity is constantly changing,which means that the total output of the economy is no longer fixed.In this process,the migration of high-skilled workers will lead to the redistribution of the total economic output and relative changes in the income and migration costs of all types of workers,which will in turn affect the migration decisions of high-skilled workers.Third,this paper discusses the interaction between migration costs and matching of workers with different skill levels in the equilibrium analysis.According to the new economic geography literature,migration cost is a key factor affecting the stability of the regional economic gap formed by labor mobility.This paper finds that the regional economic gap caused by migration cost is obviously affected by matching of workers with different skill levels.In fact,migration cost and matching degree jointly determines the convergence paths and equilibrium spaces of different types of labor mobility.