Research On The Impact Of Enrollment Expansion Of Colleges And Universities On The Income Distribution Gap Of Chinese Residents

The gap in income distribution among residents is a problem that every country has to face in the growth process,and proper response is conducive to the smooth operation of the economy and the harmonious development of society;improper response will inhibit economic development and even cause social turmoil.Therefore,both domestic and foreign scholars are keen on the study of income distribution.On this issue,the academic community has constructed a relatively mature theoretical system,that is,education has an important impact on the income distribution gap of residents in a country,and increasing the importance of education can effectively improve the problem of excessive income distribution gap among residents.At present,China’s Gini coefficient remains high,the income gap is too large caused by many problems gradually prominent,how to start from the existing foreign experience,combined with China’s actual conditions,to build a set of higher education development theory in line with China’s national conditions,in order to adjust China’s existing higher education enrollment expansion policy,reduce the gap in income distribution of residents,help China’s high-quality economic development,build a socialist harmonious society,is of great significance.This study sorts out the research results in this field,and starts from the theory of human capital,screening theory and other theories,uses the provincial macro data of China from 2003 to 2020 to carry out research,specifically analyzes the development and change of the expansion of enrollment and income distribution gap in China’s universities,and studies the impact of university enrollment expansion on income gap with the help of the systematic GMM model,on this basis,based on the perspective of "enrollment opportunity mechanism" and "technological progress mechanism",the mediation effect model is used.Examine the ways in which the expansion of colleges and universities affects the income gap.The main conclusions drawn in this paper include:（1）from the overall point of view,the impact of China’s higher education enrollment expansion policy on China’s social income differentiation is "inverted U-shaped";from the perspective of different regions,the expansion of general specialty enrollment,ordinary undergraduate enrollment and graduate school enrollment in the eastern region has no significant impact on the income gap of local residents;the impact of enrollment expansion at various levels of education in the central region on income gap shows an obvious "inverted U-shape" relationship,of which the expansion of general specialty enrollment and the expansion of graduate school enrollment will narrow the gap between residents’ income distribution at this stage.The expansion of ordinary undergraduate enrollment will still expand the income gap,but it is currently close to the inflection point of "inverted U-shape",indicating that this expansion effect will not last too long;similar to the central region,the expansion of enrollment at all levels of education in the western region and the income distribution gap also show an "inverted U-shaped" relationship,of which the expansion of ordinary specialty enrollment will lead to a widening of the income gap at this stage,and the duration will be longer,and the expansion of ordinary undergraduate and graduate students is conducive to narrowing the income distribution gap of residents at present.（2）As far as the absolute effect is concerned,the income distribution gap between residents in the central region is most affected by the expansion of graduate students,followed by ordinary specialties and the lowest for ordinary undergraduates;the income distribution gap between residents in the western region is most affected by ordinary undergraduates,followed by ordinary specialists,and the lowest for graduate students.（3）The expansion of college enrollment can play a role in narrowing the income gap through the "enrollment opportunity mechanism" and the "technological progress mechanism".Among them,the impact on the income distribution gap of residents through the "enrolment opportunity mechanism" was-0.0007,accounting for 26.92%of the total effect;the impact on the income distribution gap of residents through the "technological progress mechanism" was-0.0005,accounting for 19.23% of the total effect.On this basis,this study puts forward policy suggestions such as shifting the focus of China’s higher education enrollment expansion to the central and western regions,continuing to strengthen education assistance for families in poor areas,and appropriately adjusting the policy of expanding higher education enrollment according to the actual situation in various regions.Compared with other studies,this study has made new breakthroughs in the following three aspects:（1）Research based on different levels of education.The effects of the expansion of general specialty,ordinary undergraduate and graduate students on the income distribution gap of residents were studied separately,and the results of the study were more detailed and in-depth.（2）The use of the system GMM model makes the research conclusions more accurate.In this paper,the first-order lag term of the income gap index is incorporated into the model as an explanatory variable,and the parameters are estimated by using the systematic GMM model,which not only examines the dynamic effect of the model but also controls the endogenous problem of the model to a certain extent,and improves the accuracy and credibility of the research conclusions.（3）The mechanism of the expansion of college enrollment affects the gap in residents’ income distribution is discussed.This paper discusses the mechanism of action between the mechanism of enrollment opportunities and the mechanism of technological progress.