Research on the economic effect of employment structure change in heterogeneous regions: evidence from resource-based cities in China

The Report on the Work of the Chinese Government in 2021 emphasised that stable employment is the foundation of national development. Therefore, adjustment of the employment structure is one of the main routes for sustainable development of resource-based cities. However, the impact of employment structure on sustained economic growth, particularly in heterogeneous regions, has not yet been determined. This study analyses China's employment structure's spatial evolution, using panel data from 2004 to 2018 of 115 prefecture-level resource-based cities. It explores the driving factors and spatial effects of employment structure changes on economic growth through an extended two-sector economic growth model and spatial econometric model, and proposes solutions for heterogeneous regions. The results show that the labour productivity of the employed population in the secondary industry is the most important factor affecting economic growth, but the spatial effects of employment structure adjustment on economic growth are different in heterogeneous regions. They further reveal that improving the productivity of the employed population in the secondary industry and building an industrial system according to regional advantages are the top priorities for developing the sustainable economy of resource-based cities.