Does Regional Innovation Environment Have an Impact on the Gathering of Technological Talent? An Empirical Study Based on 31 Provinces in China

Abstract

Driven by innovation, the implementation of a strategy for developing a quality workforce is the key to promoting the high-quality development of China’s economy. Based on the panel data of 31 provinces on the Chinese mainland from 2013 to 2020, a spatial econometric model is used to explore the impact of the regional environment, regional heterogeneity and its spatial effect on the gathering of technological talent. The results show that: (1) The improvement of the regional innovation environment can significantly promote the gathering of technological talent in a region; (2) The regional innovation environment has an obvious regional effect on the gathering of technological talent, which is manifested in the strong promotion of the eastern and western regions, and an obvious siphon effect in the eastern region, but it is not the key factor affecting the gathering of technological talent in the central region; (3) The gathering of technological talent has a significant spatial effect among neighboring provinces. Therefore, improving the regional innovation environment, adapting measures to local conditions in different regions and strengthening economic cooperation among provinces have become the key to the rational allocation of technology talent resources.