The Role of Education in Urbanization: An Empirical Study Based on China’s Provincial-Level Panel Data from 2005 to 2020

Abstract

Urbanization is a crucial factor in economic growth and common prosperity and thus an inevitable pathway to a nation’s modernization. To achieve the goal of common prosperity of Chinese society as a whole, it is imperative to enhance the education level of its farmers, accelerate the construction of the new countryside, and develop modern, large-scale agriculture, so as to liberate more farmers from the agricultural labor and allow them to enter the secondary and tertiary sectors of economy that provide higher incomes. This study seeks to verify the promotional effect of education on the urbanization level by utilizing the provincial-level panel data from 2005 to 2020 in China. The two-way fixed effects model is adopted in the analysis. Research findings include that: (i) Investment in education has substantial promotional effects on the urbanization level; (ii) Economic growth and technological advancement significantly advances the progression of urbanization; (iii) The development level of the region can moderate the impact of education on urbanization.