(School of Economics and Trade, Nanjing Audit University)
Abstract: Based on the panel data of 31 provinces in the mainland of China for 2004-2013, an empirical test was conducted by applying the fixed effect model and the method of gradual variable addition, the results yielded from which show that the expansion of the scale of higher education has a significant positive, yet lagged, effect on the economic growth, while the current growth is also affected by the higher education scale in the previous period. A positive correlation is found between the stocks of physical capital, human capital, science and technology level, transportation infrastructure and city level and the economic growth, but the income gap between urban and rural areas and environmental pollution still hinder the economic growth. The analysis also reveals that the effect of the expansion of the scale of higher education on the economic growth is stronger in the central and western regions than in the eastern region of the country.
Key Words: the Scale of Higher Education; Policy of Higher Education Expansiom; Regional Economic Growth; Regional Difference