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City civilization, employment creation and talent agglomeration: Empirical evidence from “National Civilized City” policy in China

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  • Guo, Meng
  • Luo, Danglun
  • Liu, Chen

Abstract

China's rapid urbanization has intensified urban employment pressure. The National Civilized City (NCC) policy is a significant initiative in China aimed at promoting high-quality urban development. We utilize the NCC policy as a quasi-natural experiment and employ the staggered difference-in-difference method to empirically analyze the impact of urban civilization development on full employment and human capital level. The empirical results demonstrate that NCC policy significantly promotes urban entrepreneurship and employment creation, boosts labor demand of local enterprises, and enhances the human capital level. The positive effect on employment is significant in both talent-intensive and low- and medium-skilled intensive fields. In addition, heterogeneity tests show that this positive effect is more pronounced in low-tier cities and previously polluted cities. Finally, the mechanism analysis indicates that the NCC policy can enhance employment creation through investment promotion at the city level and by expanding production scale at the firm level. The NCC policy's impact on human capital level is supported by technological advancement and innovation emphasis mechanisms from the demand side, as well as talent agglomeration mechanism from the supply side. This study provides policy recommendations for local governments to leverage the achievements of civilized cities in promoting employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Guo, Meng & Luo, Danglun & Liu, Chen, 2024. "City civilization, employment creation and talent agglomeration: Empirical evidence from “National Civilized City” policy in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:87:y:2024:i:c:s1043951x24001044
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2024.102215
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    National Civilized City; Employment creation; Talent agglomeration; Human capital level;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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