High-Quality Employment in Digital Economy Development: Conceptual Deconstruction and Pathway Exploration Based on Labor Force Commodity Theory

Abstract

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese economy has undergone a profound transformation from high-speed growth to high-quality development. In alignment with high-quality development and the people’s aspirations for a better life, high-quality employment has emerged as a new paradigm for the era. Amid the wave of digital and intelligent transformation in economic development modes, numerous scholars have researched employment issues related to digital economic development, yet predominantly focusing on singular dimensions such as the employment “replacement” or “creation” effects, or changes in labor income share. However, high-quality employment represents a comprehensive employment system with rich contemporary implications and distinctive Chinese socialist characteristics. Examining its relationship with digital economic development from a systemic perspective holds significant importance.

This paper takes Marx’s labor force commodity theory as its logical starting point and systematically deconstructs the scientific connotations of high-quality employment following the framework of “joint construction-sharing-common prosperity-human development.” Using the entropy method, we construct a high-quality employment index and empirically test the effects and formation processes of digital economic development. The research findings reveal: First, development constitutes the fundamental pathway to high-quality employment. The digital economy, representing the direction of advanced productive forces, exerts a “double-edged sword” effect on high-quality employment; however, its positive promotional effects predominate, injecting new momentum into high-quality employment. Second, digital economic development propels labor market integration and capital deepening, reshaping labor circulation mechanisms and production modes, thus creating opportunities for efficient joint construction and human development aspects of high-quality employment; nevertheless, it poses negative challenges to the realization of sharing and common prosperity. Third, the full realization of the digital economy’s positive effects is conditionally dependent. The expansion of state-owned enterprises, enhancement of rule of law, and strengthening of trade union power contribute to better balancing the relationship between economic profits and labor justice, collectively constructing a multi-path system for high-quality employment.

Compared to previous literature, this paper’s potential marginal contributions include: First, strengthening holistic perspective and systemic thinking by treating high-quality employment as a comprehensive socialist employment system, conducting in-depth discussions on its inherent attributes and contemporary implications, thus providing a novel perspective for subsequent research. Second, focusing on the “technology-economy-distribution” characteristics of digital economic development, constructing a theoretical framework for its impact on high-quality employment, offering theoretical reference for unveiling the “black box” of digital economy’s complex influences. Third, through empirical analysis, scientifically identifying potential negative effects of digital economic development and their operational mechanisms, while exploring feasible correction pathways and practical countermeasures.

The main viewpoints of this paper provide supplements to the construction of employment theory with Chinese socialism characteristics. The relevant research conclusions and policy implications can assist government departments in implementing targeted “employment policy +” combination measures under the employment-priority orientation, addressing practical challenges in achieving high-quality employment within digital economic development.