Discussion on the Relationship Between Chinese Government’s Investment in Health Human Capital and Economic Growth

Abstract

In the past decade, the Chinese government has been facing a series of economic difficulties. The policies introduced by the Chinese government not only aim to maintain economic growth but also to achieve stable monetary and fiscal policies. In addition, the three-year pandemic has put greater financial pressure on the Chinese government. However, these efforts are all worthwhile; the Chinese government has not only ensured the health and interests of the Chinese people but also ensured stable economic growth in the region. We aim to study the relationship between Chinese government investment in health human capital and economic growth, using threshold effect models and instrumental variable methods to conduct empirical research on 26 provinces in Mainland China. The results show that, firstly, increasing government investment in health human capital can promote regional economic growth and exhibit a decreasing trend; secondly, there are differences in the influencing factors of government health investment on economic growth among different regions. From this, it can be seen that the government should formulate more scientific and reasonable government investment in health human capital policies based on factors, such as aging degree, residents’ health level, economic structure, and population size in different regions, to alleviate the pressure on government investment in health human capital and promote regional economic growth.