(Correspondent: Zhong Yiming) At the invitation of Nankai Institute of International Economics (NKIIC), Professor Xin Meng of Australian National University visited Nankai University, conducted academic exchange with the teachers and students of NKIIC, and gave an academic lecture on the topic of China’s demographic dividend and labor supply.

Professor Xin Meng’s research mainly spans four main themes: the Chinese labour market during transition, the influence of institutions and culture on gender discrimination, the economic implications of rural-urban migration, and the economic and behavioral implications of major catastrophes.  Her works have been published in leading journals including Science, Review of Economic Studies, among others. Also, she serves as an editor of Journal of Labor Economics, a top journal in the field of labor economics.

In the seminar, Professor Xin Meng presented her working paper “China’s 40 Years Demographic Dividend and Labor Supply: The Quantity Myth”. Based on census data, this paper makes an in-depth analysis of the long-term trends of China’s labor supply and economic growth from 1982 to 2015. The results show that China’s rapid economic development since the 1980s is mainly due to the improvement of labor force quality (such as the increase of years of schooling) and the change of labor force structure (such as rural-urban labor migration), rather than the increase of labor force number. Her findings highlight the importance of labor force quality in an aging society, and provide future policy directions. In the exchange section, teachers and students had a full, in-depth and constructive discussion with Professor Xin Meng on the content of the lecture.

Professor Xin Meng’s visit further developed the relationship between the School of Economics of Nankai University and the School of Economics of Australian National University, and built a friendly bridge for future academic exchanges, mutual visits and joint training.

Nankai International Economic Forum: 

“China’s 40 Years Demographic Dividend and Labour Supply: The Quantity Myth”