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Business & Economics

INFLUENCE OF THE OPENING POLICY ON THE TALENT COMPETITIVENESS OF FREE TRADE ZONES: EVIDENCE FROM TRADE ZONES IN CHINA
Wei Wang, Huai Chen

ABSTRACT: Knowledge technology is the main driver of endogenous economic growth. Talents, as important carriers of knowledge and technology, play a core role in high-quality economic growth. Previous studies have focused on the endogenous factors of talent competitiveness, but the influence of the opening policy as an external factor on talent competitiveness has seldom been discussed. What is the influence of the opening policy on regional talent competitiveness? Can the opening policy strengthen the talent competitiveness of free trade zones? This study aims to address these questions and clarify the mechanism behind the influence of the opening policy on talent competitiveness. Based on the statistical data of eight provinces and municipalities in China with free trade zones from 2000 to 2019, the impact of the opening policy on regional talent competitiveness was identified using OLS, stepwise regression, and balanced panel data models. Results show that the opening policy has a significantly positive correlation with talent competitiveness. Further stepwise regression analyses also reveal different second-level indicators of opening policy that have the greatest influence on the comprehensive evaluation of talent competitiveness and show obvious regional, spatial, and temporal differences. The comprehensive evaluation of the opening degree is positively correlated with more than 90% of these second-level indicators in various provinces and cities, but some of these indicators have a more significant positive impact on talent competitiveness. The influence of the opening policy on talent competitiveness mainly depends on economic development, industrial structure, and the scale and structure of human capital. Therefore, different strategies should be adopted to ensure continuous changes at the development stage, such as developing an open economy, continuously increasing investments in regional human capital, and realizing high-quality development led by innovation.

KEYWORDS:  talent competitiveness, opening policy, free trade zone, entropy weight method, panel data model.

JEL classification:  F16, O15, F41, P45, C33