Research On The Impact Of Rising Labor Costs On The Industrial Upgrading Of The Construction Industry

Industrial upgrading is one of the core of China’s "14th Five-Year Plan" development goals.As the country enters the development stage of a new journey,the development of the construction industry has also ushered in new opportunities and challenges.In the new era,the demographic dividend is declining,and many industries are facing problems such as shortage of labor resources and rising labor costs.It will be an unprecedented and severe challenge to develop the labor-intensive construction industry at the current stage.Due to the characteristics of low threshold for employment and high demand for workers for various types of work on the construction site,the construction industry not only promotes the development of the national economy,but also makes outstanding contributions to the employment problem in China.And a large amount of labor supply has also laid a solid foundation for the construction industry to take off.However,due to the gradual weakening of the competitive advantage of cheap labor provided by the "demographic dividend" in recent years,in the context of labor shortages,the new generation of laborers are less willing to enter the construction industry market.The aging labor market is also constantly withdrawing from the market due to their own physical fitness and lack of ability to accept new skills.The labor cost of the construction industry continues to rise under the unbalanced market pattern of labor supply and demand caused by the macro and micro environment,which increases production costs and compresses profits,posing a huge challenge to the sustainable and healthy development of the construction industry.Under the common pressure of the current macro environment and micro situation,it is inevitable for my country’s construction industry to take the road of industrial upgrading.With the construction industry actively exploring new development paths,rising labor costs will also force companies to make technological innovations and adjust new industrial development structures to speed up the pace of industrial upgrading,that is,rising labor costs will bring both challenges and opportunities at the same time.So how will the construction industry be affected by rising labor costs on the road to industrial upgrading,and how much will be affected?These issues are worthy of our in-depth discussion.This paper firstly analyzes the labor cost in the construction industry from the perspective of labor supply and demand,and draws the conclusion that the structure of labor supply and demand in the construction industry is unbalanced,and the supply is decreasing year by year,but the demand is still relatively stable.Through the ARM A model,the labor cost of my country’s construction industry is dynamically estimated,and it is found that the labor cost of the construction industry will show a normal trend in the future.By combing domestic and foreign scholars on the construction industry labor costs and related literature on construction industry upgrading,this paper analyzes and summarizes the impact mechanism of rising labor costs on construction industry upgrading.That is,rising labor costs will have an impact on the industrial upgrading of the construction industry from three dimensions:technological progress,industrial structure,and growth performance.And the panel quantile model is used to empirically analyze the impact of rising labor costs on the above three important transmission variables and industrial upgrading.From this,it is concluded that rising labor costs will force enterprises to promote technological progress,industrial structure,growth performance and industrial upgrading.At the same time,through the threshold effect model,it is found that the labor supply and demand ratio of China’s construction industry at this stage is an important factor affecting the role of rising labor costs on the upgrading of the construction industry.Finally,this paper puts forward relevant policy suggestions to promote the upgrading of the construction industry under the trend of rising labor costs:enhance the attractiveness of the labor force,improve the quality of workers,and fully cope with the environment of disappearing demographic dividend;Increase the level of industrialization,mechanization and innovation,and reduce the demand for labor in the construction industry;adjust the reasonable level of industrial structure,cultivate large-scale leading enterprises in the construction industry,and guide small and medium-sized enterprises to take the road of specialization.