BECE. Newsletter 

Vol.7, No.2, 2021 1003 

 

 

 

 

Can Vocational Education Improve the Income Gap 

between Urban and Rural Areas? 

By Tian, Y., Xiang, X., & Pan, X. 
Correspondence to: Xiaolin Pan, Associate Professor, School of Mathematical 

Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, China. Email: Pxl_1999@163.com 

UE to the rapid growth of China's economy, the problem of the exces-

sive income gap between urban and rural residents gradually emerged, 

and it has become the principal element that hinders the further development 

of China's economy and society. In order to effectively prevent the further 

expansion of the urban-rural income gap, lots of scholars have conducted rel-

evant research. Recently, an article published in Education & Economy deep-

ly explored the impact of vocational education on the urban-rural income gap. 

Based on the human capital theory and the provincial panel data from 2007 

to 2018, this paper estimated the Theil index of the urban-rural income gap, 

using the System GMM model to evaluate the impact of the development of 

vocational education on the urban-rural income gap. 

For further analysis, the researchers established the regression model 

and the results are as follows: 

 After controlling a series of factors that affect the income gap be-

tween urban and rural areas, it is noticeable that the scale expansion 

and quality improvement of vocational education are helpful to nar-

row the income gap. 

 Cross-comparing data of the eastern, central, and western regions, 

the analysis shows that the impact of vocational education develop-

ment on the urban-rural income gap in the eastern region is relative-

ly small, while the impact in the western region is far greater than 

that in the eastern region. 

 To bridge the income gap in the eastern region consists in expanding 

the scale of vocational education, while in the central region mainly 

relies on improving the quality of vocational education, however, 

both the scale and quality of vocational education in the western re-

gion can narrow the income gap between urban and rural areas. 

According to the research results, the author put forward some sug-

gestions for the development of vocational education in China: 

 The development of vocational education in the western region is 

the most efficient way to bridge the income gap between urban and 

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Vol.7, No.2, 2021 1004 

rural areas, therefore, it is helpful for the policy effects if political 

decision-making properly inclines to the western region. 

 As for the eastern and central regions, the effects of the scale and 

quality of vocational education is different. The eastern region 

should pay attention to the investment of educational finance, ex-

panding the scale of vocational education, and providing vocational 

training for more people. And the central region should concentrate 

on the innovation of educational methods and management, for in-

stance strengthening management or teaching students in accordance 

with their aptitude to improve students' vocational ability. 

 

Source: Education & Economy, 2020; 36 (6): 51-58.