Data collection. We codified annual statistics reports for over 2600 universities in China to create three novel higher education indices for 31 Chinese provinces: i) the Chinese Higher Education Density Index (CHEDI) to analyze the evolution of the quantitative distribution of higher education institutions (HEIs) in each province from 2001 to 2017, which is further decomposed into subgroups based on the type of college, i.e. four-year undergraduate colleges, two-year vocational colleges, and private institutions; ii) the Chinese Higher Education Quality Index (CHEQI) to examine the supply of higher education in terms of quality using a university ranking system; and iii) the Chinese Higher Education Index (CHEI), a composite indicator that incorporates both the quantity and quality dimensions of higher education institutions for each province, providing a weighted measure of the supply of higher education in China.
We also created a composite analysis of children’s academic development based on comprehensive outcomes, including valuable processes, and introduced a series of innovative indicators rooted in the capability approach.
Jorgenson-Fraumeni Human Capital estimates for 31 Chinese provinces were analyzed using a club convergence clustering algorithm. The results show the regions with highest prosperity, namely, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin, together with Anhui and Chongqing. The latter two, despite still being below a number of other provinces, are accumulating per capita human capital at a faster pace, enabling them to catch up with the top three. Zhejiang leads the largest subgroup, and even diverges away from it when adjusting for the differences in the cost of living, following its own human capital growth path. Most worrying are the provinces at the lower bound, including the western-border members of (Yunnan, Tibet, Gansu, Xinjiang), as well as the divergent Qinghai.
Rights and social justice were analyzed via the capabilities approach, whereby we examined the human development of children in China. We created a composite analysis of children’s academic development based on comprehensive outcomes, including valuable processes, and introduced a series of innovative indicators rooted in the capability approach. The results present an index of parents’ advantages and a new indicator of spending priorities to identify the value of children’s education that families have prioritized through their resource allocation choices.
Finally, the empirical findings indicate a significant and persistent heterogeneity in the supply of higher education between provinces. The higher education indices identify which regions have been substantially rewarded by the higher education expansion of recent decades, going from an undersupply to a proportionate supply of higher education institutions.
Results have been published in the Journal of Asian Economics and China Economic Review. They have also been presented at conferences organized by the Chinese Economists Society, the Chinese Economic Association UK/Europe, and the Spanish Applied Economics Association. The project also organized and sponsored the 1st International Workshop on the Chinese Development Model in Barcelona.
