Drivers and strategies in China's intercity competition for high-skilled migrants

The relationship between cities and talent is well documented in urban economics and human geography. However, existing literature primarily examines how high-skilled migration policies, coupled with jobs and amenities, shape the spatial distribution of talents. In contrast, little research has explored the origins and rationale behind these policies, particularly amid the emerging “talent war” between Chinese cities. Drawing upon a comprehensive content analysis of high-skilled migration policies across 192 medium-to-mega-sized Chinese cities during the period from 2017 to 2020, this study presents the first systematic assessment of the spatial patterns and drivers of China’s recent policy reorientation towards competition for high-skilled migrants. It develops and applies a novel coding scheme to quantify policy aggressiveness and tests three competing explanations: demographic challenges, knowledge economy development, and housing market interests. Our findings challenge the widespread notion that these policies primarily serve demographic needs. Instead, cities already strong in human capital and with younger populations are found to offer more generous incentives. We find some support for the influence of housing interests on policy design, but this is limited to policies targeting average high-skilled migrants, such as university graduates. These results advance the methodological approaches to analyzing migration policies beyond traditional liberal-restrictive frameworks and enrich the theoretical understanding of the variegated mechanisms underlying city-talent nexus.