The innovation effects of local talent competition: The case of China's municipal “Vying for Talent” policies

IF 7 1区 经济学 Q1 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Qingfeng Cai , Hao Liu , Yinghao Pan , Jingxian Zou
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This paper examines how place-based talent policies shape innovation dynamics across Chinese cities. Drawing on municipal “Vying for Talent” initiatives (2009–2019), we analyze how these strategies reconfigure firms’ innovation incentives through interactions with local institutions. Our mechanism analysis reveals that these interventions enhance corporate R&D intensity primarily by amplifying expected returns through increased direct government subsidies, and by reducing innovation costs via lower effective tax rates and the enhancement of firm-level human capital. Policy effectiveness demonstrates strong complementarity with local economic conditions, generating a “Matthew effect” whereby advantaged cities achieve greater returns. This spatial differentiation, particularly pronounced among private and high-tech firms, suggests talent policies may reinforce existing geographical hierarchies of innovation capacity.
地方人才竞争的创新效应:以中国市级“抢人才”政策为例
本文研究了基于地方的人才政策如何影响中国城市的创新动态。根据2009-2019年的市级“争夺人才”计划,我们分析了这些战略如何通过与地方机构的互动重新配置企业的创新激励。我们的机制分析表明,这些干预措施主要通过增加政府直接补贴来放大预期收益,以及通过降低有效税率和提高企业层面的人力资本来降低创新成本,从而提高企业研发强度。政策有效性与当地经济条件具有很强的互补性,形成优势城市获得更大回报的“马太效应”。这种空间差异,在私营企业和高科技企业中尤为明显,表明人才政策可能会强化现有的创新能力的地理等级。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
10.50
自引率
10.30%
发文量
151
审稿时长
38 days
期刊介绍: Habitat International is dedicated to the study of urban and rural human settlements: their planning, design, production and management. Its main focus is on urbanisation in its broadest sense in the developing world. However, increasingly the interrelationships and linkages between cities and towns in the developing and developed worlds are becoming apparent and solutions to the problems that result are urgently required. The economic, social, technological and political systems of the world are intertwined and changes in one region almost always affect other regions.
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