Abstract: Based on the panel data of 30 provinces and autonomous regions from 2003 to 2018, this paper studies the impact of graduate human capital and its innovation drive on economic growth. Research shows that graduate human capital and innovation drive have a significant role in promoting economic growth, but their interaction has an adverse impact on economic growth. Further analysis shows that there is a significant positive correlation between provincial economic growth, and the spatial correlation coefficient is about 21.23%. After considering the spatial correlation, graduate human capital and innovation drive still play a significant role in promoting regional economic growth, but the role has decreased. It is suggested that on the basis of expanding the scale of graduate enrollment and increasing innovation investment, we should focus on solving the problems of graduate human capital and innovation driven coordination mechanism.
