从投资于物到投资于人:健康人力资本与物质资本的经济效应比较研究OACHSSCD

China's economy has entered a new normal,and the traditional growth model driven by physical capital suffers from diminishing marginal returns.Health human capital is playing an increasingly important role in the process of high-quality economic development.Based on human capital theory,endogenous growth theory and health economics theory,this paper conducts a comparative analysis of two types of capital investment to demonstrate the significance of health human capital for high-quality economic development of our country.The research finds that investment in health human capital promotes economic growth,and has a more sustainable growth momentum compared to physical capital investment.An empirical test using provincial panel data from 2011 to 2024 is conducted.The results show that the standardized regression coefficient of health human capital investment on high-quality economic growth is 0.352,markedly higher than the value of 0.201 for investment in physical capital,and investment in health human capital delivers better long-term returns.Heterogeneity tests indicate that the marginal benefits of investment in health human capital are more prominent in central-western regions,low-income-concentrated regions and high-aging-level regions,while investment in physical capital only possesses comparative advantages in regions at the initial stage of industrialization.Investment in health human capital drives high-quality economic development through three paths:improving labor productivity,releasing consumption capacity,and empowering innovation vitality.The total proportion of the mediating effect of investment in health human capital reaches 84.8%,which is higher than the value of 52.5%for investment in physical capital.This provides theoretical support and empirical evidence for China to optimize investment structure,implement the human-oriented investment strategy and advance high-quality economic development.