중국의 디지털 경제와 고용 동향

[한줄 요약] 중국의 경우 디지털 경제가 발전하면서 고숙련, 중상 숙련의 고용 비중이 늘어나고 저숙련, 중하 숙련의 고용 비중이 감소하였다. 디지털 경제의 발전은 회계와 판매, 특히 R&D 분야의 일자리를 증가시키는 것으로 나타났다.

The Effect of Digital Economy Development on Labor Employment: Empirical Evidence From Listed Companies in China

Wu Yunxia, North University of China, China & Nankai University, China* Hao Neng, Jinan University, China Ma Yechi, Northeast Normal University, China

<Abstract>

 The paper empirically examines the impact of the development of the digital economy on the employment scale and structure of China’s listed companies. The results show that overall, digital economic development significantly improves the employment scale of listed companies in China. The development of the digital economy has significantly increased the share of high-skilled labor, medium- and high-skilled labor, and decreased the share of low- and medium- skilled labor and lowskilled labor. In employment positions, the development of the digital economy significantly increases the share of openings in accounting, sales, and other positions, especially in R&D. Furthermore, the employment creation effect of digital economic development is attributed to the effects of scale expansion and productivity, while the substitution of digital technology for low-skilled labor does not significantly hinder employment. The study has important implications for the digital economy and employment.

참고: IMF 디지털 경제의 정의

“The IMF (2018) gives a broad definition of the digital economy, stating that the digital economy is an economic activity typified by digital information and knowledge used as a new factor of production to promote efficiency gains and macroeconomic structural optimization through the use of information technology networks and the sum of economic activities"

<Conclusion and policy implications>

 This paper empirically examines the impact of digital economy development on the employment scale and employment structure of China’s listed companies by using the China Urban Digital Economy Index released by Tencent Research Institute and listed company data from 2015 to 2018 and explores the internal mechanism of the digital economy’s role in employment through multiple channels. This provides empirical evidence for the government to make better and faster use of the digital economy and achieve the policy goal of stabilizing employment.

 The main findings are as follows:

 1. Overall, the development of the digital economy significantly improves the employment scale of listed companies in China, which reflects that the employment creation effect of digital economic development is greater than the substitution effect.

 2. For employment structure, digital economic development enhances the employment scale of high-skilled labor with postgraduate degrees or above and middle- and high-skilled labor with undergraduate degrees. The digital economic development significantly increased the employment share of high-skilled labor with postgraduate degrees and middle- and high-skilled labor with undergraduate degrees and decreased the employment share of middle- and high-skilled labor with only junior college degrees, middle- and low-skilled labor with senior high school education, and low-skilled labor with just junior high school education or below. For employment position structure, the development of the digital economy significantly enhances the growth and the share of positions in accounting, sales, R&D and other departments. In particular, the increase of the employment share of R&D positions is relatively large.

 3. From the perspective of industry heterogeneity, the development of the digital economy significantly enhances employment in both the manufacturing and service industries. It is further found that digital economic development has no significant impact on employment in labor-intensive manufacturing industries but significantly promotes employment in capital- and technology-intensive manufacturing industries.

 4. From the perspective of regional differences, the development of the digital economy has significantly promoted employment in the eastern and western regions but has no significant impact on employment in the central region