  The 4th Xi Xian Academic Luncheon, co-organized by the School of Public Finance and Taxation of and IIDPF, was successfully held on 8 October 2021 in Conference Room 119, Wenqin Building. IIDPF researcher Dr Wan Qian gave a lecture entitled "Human Capital, Skill Complementary and Urban Development: Evidence from China's Higher Education". The forum was hosted by IIDPF researcher Dr. Wan Xin,. More than fifty students and faculty members, including Professor Yang Canming, President of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law and Director of IIDPF, Professor Sun Qunli, Deputy Director, Professor Lu Yuanping, Executive Deputy Director, Professor Yang Guochao of the School of Accounting, and all the researchers, attended the academic luncheon through online and offline hybrid means.
  It is well known that human capital is an inexhaustible driver of economic growth, and human capital is the sum of knowledge, skills and other qualitative factors that exist in the human body and have economic value. With economic development, China's demand for highly skilled personnel has increased dramatically, and as a result, China introduced a policy of expanding university admissions in 1999. Dr Wan Qian examined the impact of human capital on urban development using the DID model in the context of the expansion of higher education in China. Through empirical research, Dr Wanqian found that the expansion of tertiary education significantly increased the number of people in cities and contributed to their economic growth. Further research found that the expansion of tertiary education increased the number of highly skilled workers in cities, and that the additional highly skilled workers attracted low-skilled workers to the cities due to their complementary skills. From the perspective of city size, the higher the shortage of highly skilled personnel, the more significant the inflow of talent effect brought about by the expansion of universities.
  Dr Wan Qian's presentation captivated the students and faculty in the audience, with active interaction and in-depth discussions on issues such as robustness and data endogeneity in empirical research. Dr Wan's research findings highlight the importance of university expansion for population growth in China's cities and reveal the important role of human capital for quality economic development in China's cities.
