The Impact and Mechanism of Technological Progress on Consumption Stratification: An Analysis from the Perspective of China’s Labor Market

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the rapid development of new quality productive forces, technological progress profoundly reshaped income distribution patterns and consumption structures. On the basis of task-oriented model theory, this paper constructs an analytical chain of technological progress → employment polarization → consumption stratification using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2008--2023. This study innovatively constructs a consumption entropy reduction index (CERI) to quantify the phenomenon of consumption stratification and identifies transmission mechanisms through an employment polarization index (EPI). The findings reveal that technological progress significantly exacerbates consumption stratification: each 1 percentage point increase in R&D investment intensity leads to an average increase of 0.018 units in the consumption entropy reduction index. Employment polarization plays a crucial mediating role, with technological progress leading to employment polarization through ‘skill-biased’ and ‘task-substitution’ mechanisms, which subsequently reshapes income distribution through wage‒price mechanisms and ultimately transmits to the consumption domain, forming stratification. Further research indicates significant regional heterogeneity in the consumption stratification effects of technological progress, with more pronounced stratification effects in the eastern regions of China than in the central and western regions. This study is the first to construct a complete theoretical framework for how technological progress affects consumption stratification, providing important empirical evidence for coordinating technological innovation with common prosperity objectives.