Association of human capital development and women’s employment in China, 1990-2020: An empirical assessment

Abstract

This study was designed to assess the connection between human capital development and the employment of women in China from  1990 to 2020. Data was collected from the World Development Indicators, after which it was subjected to Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares  and Granger causality econometric analysis. The results from the study showed that human capital development and women  employment had a negative but insignificant relationship. Similarly, a unidirectional relationship existed between female employment  and government capital expenditure in China, while a bidirectional association ran between women employment and government  expenditure on education in the country. Therefore, it is concluded that human capital development and government expenditure on  education are the strong motivating factors that drive GDP growth rate and women employment in China. Consequently, we recommend  that policymakers in China should consider massive investment in human capital development in order to enhance women employment  in the country. Additionally, policymakers should embark on policies and programmes that foster the expansion of China`s GDP growth  rate as a measure to increase employment opportunities for women.