Research Paper:
Analysis of Employment Effect and Regional Characteristics of Digital Economy Development
Dan Tang*, and Liucen Lai**
*Research Center for Quantitative Economics, Huaqiao University
No.668 Jimei Avenue, Jimei District, Xiamen, Fujian 361021, China
Corresponding author
**Institute of Quantitative Economics and Statistics, Huaqiao University
No.668 Jimei Avenue, Jimei District, Xiamen, Fujian 361021, China
The advent of digital economy has had a significant impact on the scale and quality of employment. This study employs a regional characteristic analysis to investigate the impact of DE development on employment quantity and quality. Additionally, the effect of DE advancement on employment levels is examined, with emphasis on the associated changes in quality. The results demonstrate that the progression of the DE exerts a dual influence on the overall employment landscape, encompassing both a “creation effect” and a “substitution effect.” However, the “creation effect” is identified as the predominant influence. The advancement of the DE has the potential to markedly enhance the quality of regional employment opportunities. The impact of digital economic development on regional employment income and security is contingent upon the level of development. The DE has a beneficial effect on the stability of employment in the eastern and central regions. Nevertheless, in the western region, the impact is less significant, with the level of employment security exhibiting a lagging phenomenon. Therefore, this study proposes a series of policy recommendations, including the acceleration of digital economic development, the expansion of new employment opportunities, enhancement of digital skills among the labor force, and the improvement of the social welfare system for workers.
- [1] S. Cohen, J. Zysman, and B. J. DeLong, “Tools for thought: What is new and important about the “economy”,” Berkeley: Berkeley Roundtable on the Int. Economy, Working Paper, No.138, 2000.
- [2] B. Kim, A. Barua, and A. B. Whinston, “Virtual field experiments for a digital economy: A new research methodology for exploring an information economy,” Decision Support System, Vol.32, No.3, pp. 215-231, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-9236(01)00094-X
- [3] B. Carlsson, “The Digital Economy: What is new and what is not?,” Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Vol.15, No.3, pp. 245-264, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.strueco.2004.02.001
- [4] Z. Liu, “Countries in the “Digital economy”,” Chongqing Social Sciences, No.4, pp. 74-77, 2001 (in Chinese).
- [5] W. Jin and B. Sun, “The digital economy for high-quality economic development: A theoretical and analytical framework,” Economist, No.2, pp. 66-73, 2019 (in Chinese).
- [6] C. Wang and Y. Nie, “Progress in the study of the impact of the digital economy on employment,” Dynamics of Economics, No.4, pp. 134-149, 2023 (in Chinese).
- [7] T. Kang, “Research on measuring the scale of China’s digital economy,” Contemporary Finance and Economics, No.3, pp. 118-121, 2008 (in Chinese).
- [8] X. Xu and M. Zhang, “Research on the measurement of the scale of China’s digital economy – Based on the perspective of international comparison,” Industrial Economy of China, No.5, pp. 23-41, 2020 (in Chinese).
- [9] X. Zhang and Y. Jiao, “A preliminary study of China’s digital economy development index and its application,” Zhejiang of Social Sciences, No.4, pp. 32-40+157, 2017 (in Chinese).
- [10] C. Yang and Z. Li, “Level of development, regional differences and dynamic evolution of distribution of China’s digital economy,” Statistics and Decision Making, No.9, pp. 5-10, 2023 (in Chinese).
- [11] D. Autor, “The polarization of job opportunities in the U.S. labor market: Implications for employment and earnings,” Community Investments, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Vol.23, No.2, pp. 11-16+40-41, 2011.
- [12] C. B. Frey and M. A. Osborne, “The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?,” Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Vol.114, No.2, pp. 254-280, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2016.08.019
- [13] M. Han, Q. Han, and L. Xia, “The impact of industrial robot application on manufacturing employment – An empirical study based on data from prefecture-level cities in China,” Reforming, Vol.4, No.3, pp. 22-39, 2020 (in Chinese).
- [14] D. Acemoglu and P. Restrepo, “The race between man and machine: Implications of technology for growth, factor shares, and employment,” American Economic Review, Vol.108, No.6, pp. 1488-1542, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20160696
- [15] D. Acemoglu and P. Restrepo, “Automation and new tasks: How technology displaces and reinstates labor,” J. of Economic Perspectives, Vol.33, No.2, pp. 3-30, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.33.2.3
- [16] Z. He, X. Zhang, and G. Wan, “Digital finance, digital divide and multidimensional poverty,” Statistical Research, Vol.37, No.10, pp. 79-89, 2020 (in Chinese).
- [17] Z. Li, “Challenges and reflections of technological progress on employment in the era of the new industrial revolution,” Jiangxi Social Science, Vol.38, No.11, pp. 78-85, 2018 (in Chinese).
- [18] Y. Cong and B. Yu, “The impact of digital economy on labour resource allocation efficiency in China,” Financial Theory and Practice, Vol.41, No.2, pp. 108-114, 2020 (in Chinese).
This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationa License.