Abstract
This exploration aims to explore the relationship between craftsman’s spirit and the economic growth of the construction industry and discuss the heterogeneity of different regions to provide a reference for the development of the construction industry in each region. The annual data from 2011 to 2018 of China’s 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) (except Tibet) is used as the research object. Based on defining the craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry and constructing its comprehensive evaluation index system, a panel data model is established to analyze the relationship between the craftsman’s spirit and the economic growth of the construction industry and regional differences. The empirical results show that the level of craftsman’s spirit in China’s construction industry is increasing year by year, showing a “gradient decreasing” trend in the east, the middle, and the west. Specific data show that, from 2011 to 2018, the craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry in 30 provinces increased from 0.154 to 0.256. Among them, the craftsman’s spirit index in Beijing in 2018 was 2.19 times higher than that in 2011, an increase of 119.38%, with the fastest growth rate. The growth rate of Shaanxi Province in recent 8 years is only 11.4%, which is relatively low. The craftsman’s spirit has a positive impact on the economic growth of the construction industry, and there are regional differences. The promotion effect is more obvious in the central region, followed by the eastern region, and weaker in the western region. The research content has important reference value for improving the construction industry’ attention to cultivating the craftsman’s spirit of employees and promoting the coordinated development of regions.
1. Introduction
In the 2016 national “Two Sessions,” “craftsman’s spirit” first appeared in the “Government Work Report.” Since then, the “14th Five-Year Plan” and the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China have also emphasized the promotion of “craftsman’s spirit,” reflecting the important policy status of craftsman’s spirit, and craftsman’s spirit has become a social hotspot at the national strategic level. The American economist Schultz believes that “human labor” factors can promote economic development. The craftsman’s spirit can promote labor input in any period of labor division and continuously accumulate it as human capital in the total labor period [1], which will also affect economic growth. The construction industry plays an important role in promoting China’s economic development. In the context of an increasingly aging population, the construction industry, as a labor-intensive industry, has experienced a slowdown in economic growth in recent years (as shown in Figure 1). With the continuous expansion of the production and operation scale of China’s construction enterprises, the total output value of the construction industry continues to grow, reaching 26.4 trillion yuan in 2020, an increase of 6.2% over the previous year. The growth rate of the total output value of the construction industry increased by 0.6 percentage points over the previous year and increased after declining for two consecutive years. In addition, it is also faced with the shortage of labor, the low overall quality of personnel, and the lack of innovation and research spirit. The transformation and upgrading of the industry face enormous challenges. Human labor capital, especially the quality of capital, plays a pivotal role in the future development of the construction industry.
Throughout the existing research, it mainly focuses on the cultivation of craftsman’s spirit, the reasons for the lack of it, the value of the times, and empirical research on craftsman’s spirit. For example, Li and Yinglong, based on the traditional perspective, proposed to pay attention to the historical inheritance of craftsman’s spirit and proposed to cultivate craftsman’s spirit of skilled craftsmen and scientists from the aspects of employment system, setting an example, and protecting craftsmen [2]. Jin, based on analyzing the value of craftsman’s spirit in the era, proposed that a perfect craftsman system should be established to cultivate craftsman’s spirit, including the improvement of the market management system and the establishment of a salary system for skilled personnel [3]. Zuo believes that craftsman’s spirit is the professional attitude and behavior of craftsmen. Its essence lies in the craftsman’s continuous improvement of the product. Craftsmen pursue the idea of perfection [4]. Wang defines craftsman’s spirit as professional attitude of love, focus on professionalism, and hard work, concentrated, rigorous, indifferent, patient professional quality, and the pursuit of the ultimate, meticulously crafted spirit of innovation, and the spirit of respecting teachers [5]. Paanakker argues that craftsman’s spirit is an employee’s personal value. It is reflected in the quality and pursuit of goals that employees pay attention to in the work process [6]; Cheng believes that the main reason for the lack of craftsman’s spirit in China today is the lack of social identity, effective training system, related knowledge system, and defects in vocational education [7]. The lack of craftsman’s spirit was attributed to the constraints of traditional concepts, educational policies, and institutions, the loss of skills, the cultural influence of amblyopia in schools, and the failure of teaching and educating people. Students lack the subjective consciousness of becoming a craftsman [8]. Based on the spiritual level, Liu believes that craftsman’s spirit is the spiritual heritage of the development of human handicraft industry and a professional spirit of excellence. It is the value of its era [9]. From the perspective of education, Hu proposed that craftsman’s spirit will promote the transformation of education concept from cultivating “technical people” to “professional people,” and from “transmission concept” to “transformation concept,” promoting the transformation of craftsman’s spirit from artisan education to universal education [10]; Cao pointed out that craftsman’s spirit is one of the important drivers of long-term economic growth and emphasized innovation to achieve leapfrog development [11].
As for the research on human capital and economic growth, scholars generally recognize the role of human capital in promoting economic growth. For example, Han and Lee used a micro-dataset of labor force composition of age, gender, education level, and wage rate to construct a human capital measurement system and analyze its effect on Korean economic growth. The results show that human capital makes an important contribution to South Korea’s economic growth, accounting for 0.5% of the average annual GDP growth in the same period. And it is expected that, in the next two decades, human capital will still be the main growth factor of the Korean economy [12]. Keji empirically examines the relationship between human capital and economic growth in Nigeria from 1981 to 2017. It is found that the human capital estimation coefficient has a long-term significant effect on Nigeria’s economic growth. And they proposed to increase the budget for education and health sector to promote Nigeria’s economic development and improve the human capital skills needed for a knowledge-based economy. The government should also set up relevant institutions specifically responsible for improving human capital skills and capabilities [13]. Islam and Alam studied the impact of human capital formation on economic growth in Bangladesh based on the ARDL method. The results show that government spending on education has a long-term negative impact on economic growth and a short-term positive impact [14].
But what is the current craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry? Does craftsman’s spirit have an impact on the economic growth of the construction industry? Few studies have been done. This exploration creatively constructs the evaluation index system of craftsman’s spirit in the construction industry and discusses its relationship with the economic growth of the construction industry. It aims to enrich the related research on craftsman’s spirit and, at the same time, deeply explore the driving role of craftsman’s spirit on the economic growth of the construction industry, so as to provide support for the realization of high-quality development of the construction industry.
2. Research Design
2.1. The Connotation of Craftsman’s Spirit in the Construction Industry
At present, there is no unified definition of craftsman’s spirit in academic circles. Scholars have different interpretations of the craftsman’s spirit. There are three levels of interpretation: individual, enterprise, and industry. The craftsman’s spirit at the individual level is the spiritual heritage of the craftsman, including the innovative spirit of “advocating skills,” the work attitude of “pursuit of precision,” the ideal of life of “integration of Taoism and technology,” and the spiritual concept of “pursuit of excellence” [15]. The craftsman’s spirit at the enterprise level refers to the employees’ cognition of the enterprise in three aspects: the level of professional ability, the level of pursuit of excellence, and the level of innovation ability [16]; The craftsman’s spirit at the industry level is measured from the two dimensions of innovation level and professional skill level. For example, Li et al. measured the craftsman’s spirit of the manufacturing industry from the above two aspects through industry macro data [17]. At present, the craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry has not yet been defined by scholars. The craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry can be traced back to the “Luban Spirit” of assiduous research and continuous innovation in 500 BC. The Luban Prize set in this way is also the highest honor for Chinese construction projects. Participating projects need to meet high quality and innovative technology requirements. It is the representation and inheritance of the craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry. At present, the development of the construction industry is facing many problems: one is the mismatch between build quality and build speed. The level of pursuit of excellence needs to be strengthened. The second is the shortage of compound management talents, the weak awareness of enterprise innovation, and the lack of innovation ability. The third is that most of the construction personnel are migrant workers and lack professional knowledge. Fourth, there are serious pollution and emissions in the construction process, resulting in a series of environmental pollution problems, which is far from the green development goals. Therefore, the construction industry needs to develop towards refinement and industrialization and focus on building green buildings and intelligent buildings. Constantly explore innovative, efficient, and environmentally friendly development models. The new era background endows the craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry with new connotations. The craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry is no longer just the Luban spirit of assiduous study, but also the innovative spirit of continuous pursuit of excellence and promotion of green development of the construction industry driven by professional ability.
2.2. Construction of Craftsman’s Spirit Index System
Referring to the measurement system of craftsman’s spirit in the manufacturing industry constructed by Gao [18], combined with the connotation of the craftsman’s spirit in the construction industry, this paper measures the craftsman’s spirit in the construction industry from 3 aspects (pursuit of excellence, professional ability, and innovation ability) and 10 indicators (technical improvement investment, quality coefficient of construction industry development, etc.). The detailed index system is shown in Table 1. It should be noted that the development quality coefficient and the green development index of the construction industry refer to the comprehensive evaluation system constructed by Yang et al. [19] and Wang and Li [20], which is obtained through time series analysis and all-around PCA.
2.3. Sample Selection and Data Sources
Since 2011, the state has adopted the statistical method of enterprises above designated size. To ensure data comparability, 2011 was the starting year of the study. Due to the slow update of some data, the research period of this paper is 2011–2018. In addition, the lack of data in Tibet is more serious, so 30 provinces except Tibet are used as the research object. The data used in the research comes from the “China Statistical Yearbook,” “China Education Fund Statistical Yearbook,” “China Construction Industry Statistical Yearbook,” “China Labor Statistical Yearbook,” “China Urban and Rural Construction Statistical Yearbook,” “China Science and Technology Statistical Yearbook” provincial statistical yearbooks, and the National Bureau of Statistics.
2.4. Variable Selection
This paper selects the total output value of the construction industry and craftsman’s spirit as the explained and explanatory variables of the empirical analysis. At the same time, considering that the economic growth of the construction industry is affected by a variety of factors, and the economic development of the construction industry varies from region to region, therefore, in addition to the craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry, the explanatory variables select the logarithm of assets, the asset-liability ratio, the investment rate of return, and the average number of employees as control variables. It is used to measure firm size, financial leverage, operating conditions, and labor allocation in the construction industry. See Table 2 for details. It should be noted that all indicators have been standardized and tested for correlation coefficients, which meet the data requirements of regression analysis.
2.4.1. Explained Variable
(1) Construction Economy (CECO). As can be seen from Chapter 3, there are many indicators to measure the economic growth of the construction industry, such as the total output value of the construction industry, the added value of the construction industry, and the total profit of construction enterprises. Combined with the existing research, this paper takes the total output value of the construction industry as a representative variable of the economic growth of the construction industry when exploring the relationship between it and craftsman’s spirit.
2.4.2. Explanatory Variables
(1) Craftsman’s Spirit (CRAFT). Comprehensively evaluate the craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry from the three main dimensions of pursuit of excellence, professional ability, and innovation ability and 10 secondary indicators.
2.4.3. Control Variables
(1) Asset Log Value (LNASSET). The capital investment of the construction industry has a promoting effect on the economic growth of the construction industry [21]. In order to reduce the difference in the regression results caused by the different capital investment in the construction industry in different regions, the total assets of the construction industry in each region are taken as the control variable. Taking into account the smoothness of the series, it is processed logarithmically. Taking a logarithm can reduce the value larger than the median in proportion, so that the data obey the normal distribution. The normal distribution also conforms to multiple assumptions in the econometric model, which is quite conducive to solving the problem of heteroscedasticity.
(2) Asset-Liability Ratio (ALR). The asset-liability ratio of nonfinancial enterprises has a certain impact on the economic growth of enterprises in the short term [22]. Financial leverage plays an important role in the operation of the construction industry. In order to control the impact of financial leverage differences of construction enterprises in different regions on the regression results, the asset-liability ratio of construction enterprises is selected as the control variable.
(3) Investment Rate of Return (APR). Good operating conditions have a positive effect on the development of the industry. The operating conditions of construction enterprises in different regions are also different. In order to reduce the deviation of the regression results caused by the different operating conditions of the construction industry in different regions, the investment return rate of the construction industry is used as a control variable.
(4) Number of Employees in Construction Enterprises (LABOR). The labor input of the construction industry will promote the economic growth of the construction industry to a certain extent. In order to eliminate the differences in the regression results of labor input in the construction industry in different regions, the labor input in the construction industry is used as a control variable. Most studies use the number of workers as a proxy for labor input. However, the number of workers cannot fully reflect the connotation of labor quality and labor input [21]. Therefore, the number of employees in construction enterprises is selected as the indicator variable of labor allocation in the construction industry.
2.5. Research Method
When measuring the craftsman spirit of the construction industry, it is necessary to calculate the weight of different indicators and then sum the weighted indicators to obtain the craftsman spirit of the construction industry. The commonly used weight calculation methods include entropy method, expert scoring method, and principal component analysis method. In the process of measuring craftsman spirit in construction industry, it is necessary to replace the original indicators with fewer indicators to reduce the possible multicollinearity problems in the measurement process. In the existing methods, only principal component analysis can achieve this goal. In addition, in order to objectively reflect the spirit level of craftsmen in the construction industry, this paper selects the principal component analysis method to measure the spirit of craftsmen in the construction industry. The basic idea of time series global principal component analysis is to add time series and establish a time series global three-dimensional table for principal component analysis based on the traditional principal component analysis. Its essence is the processing of panel data by principal component analysis. Considering that in this study, in order to ensure horizontal comparability and vertical dynamic change, the data used include two dimensions: section and time series. Therefore, the time series global principal component analysis method is selected to measure the craftsman spirit, and the software used is SPSS22 0, and the specific steps are as follows:(1)Build a time series three-dimensional data table. variables and N provinces constitute the cross-sectional data table Xij(NP) every year, and the observation period is T years, forming the time series three-dimensional data table Xij(NTP).(2)Data standardization. The different dimensions of indicators may affect the evaluation results, so the extreme value method is used to eliminate the dimensional differences between indicators. The formula is as follows: where max (Xij) and min (Xij) represent the maximum and minimum values of the index, respectively. The indicator of formula (1) is a positive indicator(3)Effectiveness test. Time series global principal component analysis requires that the indicators have certain correlation and structural validity; otherwise, it is of little value. Therefore, the data should be tested before analysis. The commonly used methods are measuring kmo value and Bartlett test. When kmo > 0.5, the correlation degree between indicators is suitable for time series global principal component analysis. When the P value of Bartlett test is less than 0.05 (rejecting the original hypothesis), the structural validity of the data meets the conditions of time series global principal component analysis.(4)Calculate the principal component variance contribution rate and cumulative variance contribution rate. The principal component factors are extracted according to the principle that the characteristic root () is greater than 1, and the cumulative variance contribution rate () is between 70% and 80%.(5)Solve the principal component and comprehensive score value. Firstly, calculate the coefficient (Fi) of each index in the principal component. Based on solving the respective score weight () of the selected m principal components, calculate the weight (F) of each initial index in the comprehensive score, and finally obtain the comprehensive score value. Where is the original factor load.
3. Empirical Analysis
3.1. Measure of Craftsman’s Spirit in the Construction Industry
In this study, the method of time series analysis and all-around PCA that can combine the time series dimension is selected. Its essence is the processing of panel data by principal component analysis [23]. Use SPSS22.0 software to complete the measurement of craftsman’s spirit in the construction industry. First, comprehensively evaluate the construction industry development quality coefficient and green development index. Then, calculate the weight of each variable in the measurement index system of craftsman’s spirit. Finally, the craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry in each province and year is obtained. The higher the overall score, the higher the level of craftsman’s spirit, and vice versa.
Through the comprehensive evaluation of the craftsman’s spirit index of the construction industry in 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) (except Tibet) from 2011 to 2018, it can be found that:(1)The craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry in each province is increasing. As far as the annual average is concerned (As shown in Figure 2), it has increased from 0.154 to 0.256. It has increased by 66.23% in 8 years. The craftsman’s spirit of each province continued to increase within the sample interval. The craftsman’s spirit index of Beijing in 2018 was 2.19 times that of 2011, which increased by 119.38%. In Shaanxi Province, the growth rate was only 11.4% in the past 8 years, and its growth rate was relatively low.(2)The development of craftsman’s spirit in the construction industry in various provinces is uneven. The index of Craftsman’s spirit shows a “gradient decreasing” trend between east, middle, and west. It is reflected in the following two aspects: first, the craftsman’s spirit index in the eastern region (except Hebei, Liaoning, Fujian, and Hainan) all exceeded the national average (0.208) as shown in Figure 3. Beijing, in particular, reached 0.601. Both the central region (except Hubei) and the western region (except Shaanxi) are lower than the national average (As shown in Figures 4 and 5). Second, the difference between the highest and lowest averages in each province is 0.488. The extreme difference among provinces in 2018 was 2.29 times that of 2011. There is a growing imbalance in the craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry. To inherit and carry forward the Luban spirit, modern architects need to keep pace with the times, be brave in innovation, establish new development ideas, constantly catch up with and surpass the international advanced construction methods and construction technologies, and make inventions, creations, and achievements in the process of promoting the modernization of China’s construction industry.
3.2. Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Craftsman’s Spirit on the Economic Growth of the Construction Industry
3.2.1. Analysis of the Influence of Craftsman’s Spirit on the Growth of Construction Industry across the Country
(1) Model Setting Test. The F test and Hausman test are used to test the model of the influence of craftsman’s spirit on the economic growth of the construction industry in the whole country. The test results are shown in Table 3.
The result shows the following: the F-test rejects the null hypothesis that the intercepts of the individuals in the model are the same. The model is not a mixed panel data model. The Hausman test rejected the null hypothesis that “individual effects are not related to the regressor.” It does not fit the random effects model form. Therefore, the final model is a fixed-effects panel data model. Considering the differences in craftsman’s spirit and the development of construction industry in different provinces, an individual fixed effect model is adopted.
(2) Model Parameter Estimation. Panel data is more complex, and the results are easily affected by various factors. Therefore, before parameter estimation, the data should be tested for autocorrelation, heteroscedasticity and cross-sectional correlation over the same period. The results are shown in Table 4
From the test results, we can see that there are heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, and cross-sectional correlation in the national data. Fixed effects and stochastic models cannot control their effect on regression results. The Panel Corrected Standard Error (PSCE) model is very effective in handling the above three situations. And it is widely used in panel data of large cross section and small time series. Even with heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, and cross-sectional correlation, the regression estimation results are still robust. Therefore, this paper adopts the estimation method of PSCE for parameter estimation, and the measurement tool is Stata16.0 software. The regression results are shown in Table 5.
(3) Analysis of Regression Results. It can be seen from the above table that the goodness of fit after model adjustment is 96.23%. Namely, craftsman’s spirit, logarithm of assets, asset-liability ratio, investment rate of return, and average number of employees explain 96.23% of the total output value of the construction industry. The model fit was good, and , and the equation passed the significance test. Craftsman’s spirit is significant at the 1% significance level, and the coefficient is positive, which indicates that craftsman’s spirit will drive the economic growth of the construction industry to a certain extent. Under the condition that other control variables remain unchanged, for each unit of craftsman’s spirit, the economy of the construction industry will increase by 0.345 units (regression equation is shown in equation (1)). The craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry nationwide has a positive effect on the economic growth of the industry. Under the premise of the industry’s overall pursuit of excellence, innovation, pursuit of excellence, and high-quality practitioners, the development of the construction industry has sufficient human resources, capital, and innovation capital and motivation. Therefore, it promotes economic development. This is consistent with the research results of Li et al. [17], etc., and Gao [18].
From the regression results of other control variables, the logarithm of assets, asset-liability ratio, and average employees play a role in promoting the economic growth of the construction industry, all of which are significant at the 5% level. The investment yield has an inhibitory effect on the economic growth of the construction industry, which is significant at the 1% level.
Specifically, the coefficients of the logarithm of assets, the asset-liability ratio, and the average number of employees are significantly positive. The capital investment and employment in the construction industry will boost its economic growth. This is consistent with the production function-Cobb-Douglas form Y = A(t) LαKβμ (Y is gross industrial output, L is labor input, and K is capital input). Increased capital and manpower will boost production. That is, capital investment and labor input will drive the economic growth of the industry. Liability is the ability of an enterprise to use external funds, and it is also a reflection of the financial status of the enterprise. The production characteristics of the construction industry determine that the construction enterprises obtain funds through external financing in the early and mid-term of the project operation and maintain the normal operation of the funds. In this way, the people, materials, machines, and various tasks of the construction project can be carried out smoothly according to the project schedule, which is conducive to the completion of the project construction work with quality and quantity. Therefore, certain liabilities have a positive effect on the economic growth of the construction industry. The coefficient of return on investment is significantly negative. Within a certain range, the investment rate of return of construction enterprises can effectively promote the increase of industry output value. However, the investment rate of return is not as high as possible, and when it exceeds a certain value, there will be a reverse pull effect. The same goes for construction companies. Therefore, the investment yield does not have a sustained positive effect on the economic growth of the construction industry.
3.2.2. Analysis of the Influence of Craftsman’s Spirit on the Economic Growth of the Construction Industry in the Region
(1) Model Setting Test. The F test and Hausman test are used to test the setting test of the influence model of craftsman’s spirit on the economic growth of the construction industry in the eastern, central, and western regions. The test results are shown in Table 6.
The results show that, for the eastern and central regions, the F test rejects the null hypothesis that “the intercepts of individuals in the model are the same.” The model is not a mixed panel data model; Hausman’s test did not reject the null hypothesis that “individual effects are not related to the regressor.” Therefore, the final model is a random-effects panel data model. The model test results and processing methods in the western region are the same as those in the eastern region and will not be repeated here.
(2) Model Parameter Estimation. Parameter estimation tests were performed on the data of each region before analysis (see Table 7). The results show that there are heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, and cross-sectional correlation in the data of each region. Consistent with the nationwide data processing method, a PSCE model was established for parameter estimation. The results are shown in Table 8.
(3) Analysis of Regression Results. The regression results in the eastern region show the following (the regression equation is shown in equation (2)): the regression coefficient of craftsman’s spirit in the eastern region is positive and significant at the 1% significance level. The craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry in the eastern region has a promoting effect on the economic growth of the industry, which is consistent with the research results of national and existing scholars. The logarithmic value of assets and the asset-liability ratio do not have a significant effect on the economic growth of the construction industry. The average employee has a promoting effect on the economic growth of the construction industry, and it is significant at the 1% level. The investment yield has an inhibitory effect on the economic growth of the construction industry, which is significant at the 1% level. The promotion/inhibition effect of average employees and investment returns on the economic growth of the construction industry is stronger than that of the national region.
The regression results in the central region show the following (the regression equation is shown in equation (3)): the regression coefficient of craftsman’s spirit in the central region is positive and significant at the 1% significance level. The craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry in the central region has a positive pulling effect on the economic growth of the industry, and its pulling effect is stronger than that in the whole country and the eastern region. The logarithm of assets, investment rate of return, and the average number of employees have a promoting effect on the economic growth of the construction industry, all of which are significant at the 1% level. The effect of the logarithm of assets on economic growth is greater than that of the whole country. The investment rate of return is higher than that of the national region and lower than that of the eastern region. The average number of employees is much lower than the national and eastern regions. The asset-liability ratio has an inhibitory effect on the economic growth of the construction industry, which is significant at the level of 5%, and the effect is higher than that of the country, and the direction of the effect is opposite.
The regression results in the western region show the following (the regression equation is shown in equation (4)): the regression coefficient of craftsman’s spirit in the western region is positive and significant at the 1% significance level. The craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry in the western region has a lower effect on the industry economy than the whole country and the eastern and central regions. The asset-liability ratio has no significant impact on the economic growth of the construction industry; The logarithm of assets and the average number of employees have a promoting effect on the economic growth of the construction industry, both of which are significant at the 1% level. Among them, the effect of logarithm of assets on the economic growth of the construction industry is lower than that of the whole country and the central region. The average employee’s role in promoting economic growth in the construction industry is second only to the eastern region. The investment yield has an inhibitory effect on the economic growth of the construction industry, which is significant at the level of 5%. The inhibitory effect on the construction industry is lower than that of the eastern region and slightly higher than that of the national region.
3.2.3. Result Analysis and Discussion
Overall, the craftsman’s spirit of the three regions in the east, middle, and west is all positive and strong at the 1% significance level. Craftsman’s spirit promotes the economic growth of the construction industry in the same way, and the central region > the eastern region > the western region. Only the western region has a lower promotion effect than the national region. The craftsman’s spirit in the western region has a weaker role in promoting economic growth in the construction industry.
First of all, the high-demand product quality and technological improvement investment, as well as the careful consideration of the external environment, make the industry gradually develop towards refinement and realize the transformation to the connotative development model. Secondly, high-quality construction industry practitioners can improve the speed of industry progress, make the industry as a whole have learning vitality, and continuously improve the technical level and industry work performance. Finally, a high level of innovation capability means that construction enterprises are leading the way in innovation investment and transformation of innovation achievements, and the industry innovation capability is more dynamic, bringing higher innovation performance to the industry. Therefore, craftsman’s spirit has a promoting effect on the economic growth of the industry. The provinces and cities in the eastern region have a good industrial economy and strong strength, and the development of the construction industry has been at a relatively high level. Craftsman’s spirit also leads the Midwest and West. Craftsman’s spirit can play a small marginal effect, and it has a small effect on the economic growth of the construction industry. The construction industry in the central region is in the development stage. Craftsman’s spirit has a strong driving effect on the economic growth of the construction industry. The construction industry in the western region is limited by geographical conditions and regional economy, and the development is relatively slow. The low level of Craftsman’s spirit has a limited effect, so that craftsman’s spirit has less effect on the economic growth of the construction industry.
From the differences in the estimation results of the relevant control variables that affect the economic growth of the construction industry, we can see that the average employees and assets of the construction industry have a strong impact on its economic growth. Investment yield and debt-to-equity ratio are relatively weak.
The average number of employees has had a significant driving effect on the economic growth of the construction industry in all regions, and the eastern region is the strongest, followed by the western region, and the central region is relatively small. This shows that, from the perspective of labor input to promote economic growth, the current economic growth of the construction industry in various regions is in an extensional growth stage. Increasing the number of laborers can drive the economic growth of the industry. Therefore, labor input has a significant role in promoting economic growth, which is in line with the production function-Cobb-Douglas formula. The construction industry in the eastern region is developing rapidly, and the regional balance is relatively high. The labor force invested in the construction industry can be effectively allocated, and the promotion effect is obvious. The economic growth of the construction industry in the western region is relatively slow, and there are large regional differences in terms of growth efficiency. In particular, Xinjiang, Tibet, and other provinces are in short supply of talents. Therefore, increasing the allocation of manpower can bring about more obvious economic growth in the industry. The development of the construction industry in the central region is moderate, with large regional differences, and there may be improper allocation of human capital. It is impossible to improve the development of regional industries in a targeted manner, or there is a situation of human redundancy in some regions and shortage of human resources in some regions. Therefore, the economic growth benefits brought by increasing the number of labor allocations are not obvious. The logarithmic value of assets plays a significant role in the central and western regions, and the promotion effect in the central region is slightly larger than that in the western region, which does not have a strong pulling effect on the eastern region. The contribution of the asset logarithm to the construction economy is consistent with existing research and the production function-Cobb-Douglas formula. Increased capital investment will lead to an increase in output value. There is no significant difference in the promotion effect of capital investment on economic growth in the central and western regions. Greater capital investment can lead to economic growth in the local construction industry. The economic development of the eastern region started early, the industrial foundation is good, and the development of the construction industry is relatively mature and complete. It is difficult to obtain significant marginal output when capital is invested in the eastern region. From the perspective of economic growth brought about by capital investment, the construction industry in the eastern region is in the stage of connotative growth mode, and more emphasis is placed on internal structure optimization. External capital investment does not bring about significant industry economic growth.
The debt-to-asset ratio is only significant and weak in the central region. The return on investment has a significant effect on the three regions. It shows inhibitory effect in the eastern and western regions. In the central region, it is shown to have a promoting effect. The construction financing market in the central region is relatively active. Enterprises mainly rely on external financing to ensure business activities. A certain amount of corporate debt will increase the total output value of the industry. The construction industry in the eastern region developed well. Construction enterprises themselves have sufficient financial strength, mainly rely on internal financing or other channels to complete capital turnover, and do not need to solve operation problems through external financing. Therefore, debt has no significant effect on its economic growth. The construction industry in the western region develops slowly. Insufficient financial reserves: the overall economic development level of the region lags. The degree of external financing of construction enterprises is limited, and it is difficult to obtain certain benefits. Therefore, it has no obvious effect on economic growth. Except for the central region, investment income has an inhibitory effect on the economic growth of the construction industry. Certain gains in the central region could boost its construction economy. The reasons for the inhibitory effect in the eastern region are similar to those in the national region, so they will not be repeated here. For the western region, its construction industry may be obtained through external financing. For the entire western region, the overall economic development level is certain, so the investment income of its construction industry has not promoted the economic growth of the construction industry.
4. Conclusion
This paper integrates craftsman’s spirit and economic growth of construction industry into a framework for theoretical analysis and empirical test. A panel data regression model is established to analyze the relationship between craftsman’s spirit and the economic growth of the construction industry and to explore its regional heterogeneity. Turning out: (1) the craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry is rising year by year, and the development is uneven between regions. From 2011 to 2018, the craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry in China’s 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) (except Tibet) showed an upward trend year by year within the sample interval. The development trend of each region is improving, but there are certain regional differences. Much of the east is above the national average. Except for some provinces, the central and western regions are below the national average. Craftsman’s spirit presents a decreasing trend of east, middle, and west gradient. The development of craftsman’s spirit is uneven between provinces. In addition, the regional differences between provinces have expanded with time, and the imbalance has become increasingly serious. (2) The craftsman’s spirit has a promoting effect on the construction industry, and the effect is different between regions. From the national sample, the craftsman’s spirit of the 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) (except Tibet) in the sample interval has a significant effect on the economic growth of the construction industry (C = 0.345, ). Judging from the regional samples, the craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry in the three regions has a gradient decreasing law of “Middle East” in promoting the economic growth of the construction industry. At present, the construction industry in the central region has developed well, and the craftsman level in the region is also high. Therefore, it plays the most obvious role in promoting economic growth. The construction industry in eastern China started earlier, developed more mature, had a high level of craftsman spirit, and could play a small marginal benefit. Limited by resources, geography, and other conditions, the western region has a relatively slow development and a low level of craftsmanship, which plays a slightly weak role in promoting economic growth. Therefore, in order to promote the coordinated development of the region, efforts should be made to cultivate the craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry. Develop strategies according to local conditions to better play the role of craftsman’s spirit in promoting the economy of the construction industry. This exploration is conducive to promoting modern architects to keep pace with the times and pursue perfect morality and is of great significance to the construction and management of engineering projects. In the follow-up research, construction colleges can be used as a pilot to improve the craftsman’s spirit of the construction industry to cultivate the craftsman’s spirit of construction college students in the new era.
Data Availability
The labeled dataset used to support the findings of this study is available from the corresponding author upon request.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Xi’an University of Science and Technology.