主题｜Topic: High Human Capital and Child Mortality

时间｜Time：4.24（周五）下午15：00-17：30

地点｜Venue：文澴楼809｜Room 809, Wenhuan

主办单位｜Organizer：高清无码

承办单位｜Operator：数实融合研究中心；北京大学-中南财经政法大学新结构经济学研究中心

主讲｜Speaker

梁平汉，中山大学政治与公共事务管理学院教授，博士生导师，中国数量经济学会理事、学术委员会委员，中国运筹学会博弈论分会理事，《产业经济评论》执行副主编。研究政府治理、行为与实验经济学、数字技术的社会影响等，在Economic Journal, Journal of Development Economics, Games and Economic Behavior,《经济研究》、《管理世界》、《经济学季刊》等期刊发表论文上百篇，主持国社科重点、国自科面上（结项评估优），国自科青年（结项评估优）等课题，曾获霍英东基金会高等院校优秀青年教师奖，教育部哲学社会科学优秀成果奖等表彰。担任教育部经济学101计划《微观经济学》编写组成员，多篇咨政报告获得中央领导人批示和部委采纳，曾在“一席”进行学术报告。

摘要｜Abstract

This paper investigates the social value of high human capital by studying the withdrawalof educated urban youth (Sent-Down Youths, SDYs) from rural China in the early 1980s,finding that the exodus of these skilled individuals caused a significant increase in rural child mortality. This effect was driven by the collapse of frontline medical services, as the departing SDYs were not immediately replaced. The mortality surge was concentrated in deaths frompreventable causes—such as neonatal tetanus—rather than congenital anomalies. We identify two key factors that exacerbated the crisis. First, the “spatial friction” of the referral system: in remote areas where access to distant hospitals was difficult, the loss of local providers provedfatal. Second, a “low-human-capital trap”: regions with an undereducated local populace wereunable to substitute for the lost skills. Conversely, counties with a higher pre-existing stock oflocal human capital demonstrated resilience. Our findings highlight that high-skilled human capital is a non-substitutable input in the production of basic public goods like healthcare,particularly in developing economies.