Enhancing Green Economic Transition: Unveiling the Impact and Mechanisms of Integrated Human Capital on Green Total Factor Productivity

Abstract

As a critical driver of transitioning towards a green economy, human capital mainly includes educational human capital and health human capital. The direct conditional pathways and indirect mediating mechanisms by which human capital impacts green total factor productivity (GTFP) have not been adequately addressed through empirical research. This study constructs a nuanced indicator of human capital, amalgamating the dimensions of educational and health human capital, to provide a rigorous examination of the influence and underlying mechanisms through which human capital impels GTFP. The empirical findings elucidate that human capital serves as a catalyst for enhancing GTFP, with green technology innovation and labor force enhancement functioning as the pivotal channels. Furthermore, the burgeoning digital economy is revealed to amplify the beneficial impacts of green technology innovation. Nonetheless, the efficacy of human capital in propelling GTFP is contingent upon certain conditions; notably, the presence of a critical threshold related to industrial structure upgrading, financial development, and GDP per capita emerges as pivotal. The study also uncovers a heterogeneous effect contingent upon natural resource endowments and the distribution of educational resources, a variance primarily ascribed to the disparate effects of health human capital.