Human capital structure and export quality. The mediation of innovation capacity.

Abstract

This paper aims to research the direct and indirect effects of human capital structure on export quality at the firm level. The empirical analysis is carried out using firm-year data by matching three Databases based on specific rules. The Benchmark regression directly verifies the positive effect of human capital structure on export quality. Moreover, the intermediary effect test suggests that innovation capacity is a channel for the human capital structure to improve export quality. However, the mediating effect only accounts for 17% of the total effect that human capital structure plays on export quality. Additionally, this paper finds that the influence of local human resources on a firm's human capital structure varies by region, with firms in the eastern region having a significant impact on intermediation effects compared to those in the central and western regions.