How Higher Education Promotes Common Prosperity in China: Evidence from Provincial Panel Data

Using provincial panel data from 30 provinces in China covering the period from 2012 to 2023, this study examines the effects of higher education on common prosperity and explores the underlying mechanisms through technological innovation and industrial development, with particular attention to regional heterogeneity. A two-way fixed-effects model is employed to estimate the direct impact of higher education on common prosperity. Mediation analysis is conducted to examine the role of technological innovation, while regression models with interaction terms are used to assess the moderating effect of industrial development. The findings indicate that higher education significantly promotes common prosperity, although its effects vary considerably across regions. Technological innovation serves as an important mediating mechanism through which higher education contributes to common prosperity, whereas industrial development significantly strengthens this relationship. These findings suggest that achieving more substantial progress toward common prosperity requires accelerating the high-quality development of higher education, adopting region-specific higher education strategies, and fully leveraging the complementary roles of technological innovation and industrial development.