Magnet or disperser? The role of university in talent’s sequential migration in China

In the modern knowledge economy, talents are widely recognized as a critical driver of regional economic development. This study examines the two-stage migration of Chinese university graduates–from home region to university and then to the labour market–based on first-hand survey data. The findings reveal that graduates who previously migrated for higher education are more inclined to migrate again for employment. Furthermore, university quality emerges as a key factor shaping mobility patterns, positioning universities either as magnets or as dispersers of talent. Specifically, at the education-migration stage, higher-quality universities significantly increase the likelihood of students migrating out of their home provinces to pursue higher education. At the employment-migration stage, graduates from top-ranking universities exhibit higher mobility when entering the labour market. These results underscore the role of universities as pivotal nodes in the national talent mobility system and highlight the heterogeneity among universities in their capacity to attract and retain human capital based on their quality.