Guo Yuanzhi, Li Xuhong
Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P.R.China.
Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modelling, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P.R.China.
PLoS One. 2025 Jan 31;20(1):e0314297. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0314297. eCollection 2025.
Although China's education development has made great progress, there are obvious regional differences in China's educational development. A systematic investigation of the regional inequality in China's educational development and its driving factors is of great significance for optimizing the allocation of educational resources and giving full play to the critical role of education in regional development. In addition, the research on the evolution and internal mechanism of educational development inequality in China can also provide experience and reference for the Global South. Therefore, we construct a comprehensive evaluation index system to measure the level of regional educational development, reveal the regional inequalities in China's educational development, and employ spatial econometric model to dissect the factors influencing the regional inequalities. The results show that China's educational development level continues to increasing from 2003 to 2020, but a significant decrease in its growth rate. In this process, regional differences in education inequality in China have gradually narrowed, which can be confirmed by changes in the Gini coefficient and Theil index. In terms of direct spillover effects, the per capita fiscal expenditure on education and urbanization rate have positive effects. In terms of indirect spillover effects, per capita GDP and per capita fiscal expenditure on education have negative effects, while population density and urbanization rate have positive effects. After replacing the weight matrix and removing the extreme values, the model also passes the robustness test. However, this mechanism is heterogeneous in different regions, therefore, we put forward the corresponding policies and measures according to the regional driving effects of influencing factors.
尽管中国的教育发展取得了巨大进步，但中国教育发展存在明显的区域差异。系统考察中国教育发展的区域不平等及其驱动因素，对于优化教育资源配置、充分发挥教育在区域发展中的关键作用具有重要意义。此外，对中国教育发展不平等的演变及内在机制进行研究，也可为全球南方提供经验和借鉴。因此，我们构建了一个综合评价指标体系来衡量区域教育发展水平，揭示中国教育发展中的区域不平等，并运用空间计量模型剖析影响区域不平等的因素。结果表明，2003年至2020年中国教育发展水平持续提高，但增速显著下降。在此过程中，中国教育不平等的区域差异逐渐缩小，这可通过基尼系数和泰尔指数的变化得到证实。在直接溢出效应方面，人均教育财政支出和城镇化率具有正向影响。在间接溢出效应方面，人均国内生产总值和人均教育财政支出具有负向影响，而人口密度和城镇化率具有正向影响。在更换权重矩阵并剔除极值后，模型也通过了稳健性检验。然而，这种机制在不同地区具有异质性，因此，我们根据影响因素的区域驱动效应提出了相应的政策措施。
