The Impact Of Vocational Education On The Urbanrural Income Gap

In recent years,China’s economic development has made great achievements,but the income gap between urban and rural residents is a problem that we still need to focus on and solve when developing the economy.On the other hand,vocational education is an important part of China’s education system,but its role has not been paid attention to for a long time,and the development of vocational education can promote educational equity,which may have an impact on the income gap between urban and rural areas.Therefore,studying the relationship between the two is of great significance to promote the development of vocational education in China,achieve income equity,and further realize the common prosperity of all people.Based on this,this paper first sorts out the relevant theoretical and research literature on vocational education and urban-rural income gap,summarizes the characteristics of existing literature,and finds out the entry point of research.Then,the relevant concepts are defined,the relationship between vocational education and urban-rural income gap is analyzed on the basis of theory,and research hypotheses are put forward.Based on the availability of data,this paper selects the panel data of30 provinces(municipalities and autonomous regions)in China from 2008 to 2020 to construct a regression model to empirically study the influence direction and intermediate mechanism of vocational education development on urban-rural income gap in China.The research conclusions drawn from this paper through empirical analysis are as follows: first,vocational education has a negative effect on the income gap between urban and rural areas,and the development of vocational education in various provinces and cities can effectively reduce the income gap between urban and rural areas and promote income equity;Second,rural human capital plays an intermediary role in the relationship between vocational education and urban-rural income gap,which can first increase rural human capital,increase farmers’ income,and then indirectly narrow the urban-rural income gap;Third,whether in the eastern region or the central and western regions,vocational education can significantly reduce the income gap between urban and rural areas.Finally,this paper puts forward policy suggestions from the aspects of attaching importance to vocational education and increasing the investment in vocational education in rural areas and central and western regions.Taking vocational education as the research object,this paper deeply discusses the mechanism affecting the income gap between urban and rural areas from the theoretical level,and conducts empirical research based on interprovincial data to examine the influence direction and mechanism of vocational education on urban-rural income gap.The research results of this paper expand the research fields related to vocational education,and also provide a theoretical reference for the development of vocational education and the narrowing of urban-rural income gap in China.