Guangxi's Primary and Non-Primary Cities: Wage Gap, Human Capital Gap and Economic Gap

Abstract

Based on the panel data of 14 cities in Guangxi(China) from 2004 to 2021, a two-way fixed effect model is established to analyze the effects of wage gap and human capital gap on the economic gap between non-primary and primary cities. The results found that both the wage gap and the human capital gap have a significant positive impact on the economic gap between cities in general; regional heterogeneity tests show that some cities have a significant impact on the economic gap in terms of the wage gap and the human capital gap, while others do not; there is a positive moderating effect of industrial structure upgrading on the relationship between wage gap and economic gap. Based on this, non-primary cities should pay attention to the synergy between economic development and wage income improvement; actively create good development opportunities and enhance the ability to attract talents; improve self-development ability through industrial upgrading and opening up to the outside world.