1. HUGH LAUDER UNIVERSITY OF BATH Workshop on China’s Global Search for Talent Policy CEERP,Honk Kong University of Science & Technology 7.11.2011 Attracting & Retaining High Level Talent in China: Cooperation or Competition?

2. The Key Issues National Prosperity depends on transnational processes. Does this lead to underlying tensions? The Chinese Talent Strategy: From ‘Made in China to Created in China’: the central role of human capital (See Zhang, Wang and Alon (2011). Under the National Medium and Long-term Development Plan (2010- 2020) 6 categories of talent are identified. Not all will need to attract overseas and returnee talent. In this paper I shall focus on two categories (1) high level management talent (2) and highly skilled researchers. These two categories, in particular, raise some of the more difficult questions concerning cooperation and competition between nations. However, there are also issues of internal national competition that need to be considered.

3. Paper Outline There are 3 levels at which we can undertake this analysis: The transnational The national The individual To understand the possible impacts of the talent plan and especially in relation to returnees we need first to outline a model of skill within the global economy

4. The Global Auction for High Skilled Work Trend One: Globalisation of ‘High Skills’  Enrolments in Tertiary Education Doubled Within a Decade from 72 to 136 million (1996-2007; 195 million graduates in China by 2020); Trend Two: Quality-Cost Revolution  ‘We have an “inside out” model which is very clever. It gives us more flexibility over what to do where’. Senior Indian Manager, EU Electronics, Mumbai Trend Three: Digital Taylorism  Knowledge Work  Working Knowledge Trend Four: War for Talent  ‘The Best and the Rest’ (Performance + Skills)

5. The Implications at the International-National Interface The idea of a war for talent is now well established by TNCs, so that the idea of attracting top talent from across the globe is now well accepted. However, TNCs also interact with national and local labour markets so that as one leading Chinese economist, talking of Chinese SOEs, told us ‘The TNCs are out teachers and we are the pupils’ so they may impact on national skill and organisational development in a range of ways. However, one reason why high level business returnees are so important is that they will have experience of market conditions that will not be the case for many executives in some sectors in China e.g., banking. As Chinese businesses move out into the world, the experience of the returnees will be crucial in how they adapt to global market conditions. This also applies to the development of R&D facilities.

6. Higher Education and the Globalization of R&D Universities since the 19 th Century have been seen to have several aims, however, until recently one has been that of national development in relation to research and the supply of educated workers. However, in the USA and the UK and now in parts of Europe this is fundamentally changing. Policy makers in these countries continue to assume that their universities will act in support of national development but this mat be an error. Once universities are placed in market contexts their research is open to all who are prepared to collaborate and fund it, irrespective of national interest. This is most clearly seen in the interactions between TNCs and university co-operation. Whether the policies and practices of TNCs and of globally placed universities bring about a ‘win win’ from all nations is debatable. Proponents of ‘free trade’ may argue that in the long run all gain. However, there are counter economic and social pressures that may imply a return to nationalism and protectionism

7. Nationalist and Protectionist Pressures Continuing recession in the west may lead to new forms of economic nationalism with calls for protectionism. In terms of losing talent this may well focus on the loss of key research academics rather than in relation to TNCs. But an implication of the Global auction is that graduates in the west will no longer have the opportunities for graduate incomes and jobs that their parents. This suggests that the loss of opportunity for the professional middle class may add to protectionist pressures.

8. The National-Individual Interface Within nations a key to the success of returnee policies will depend upon the rules by which the positional competition for credentials and its relationship to jobs is perceived. Merit is considered the basis for legitimacy. If the appointment of returnees is seen to reduce the opportunities of those at home then this may be seen as rigging the positional competition. In turn this may affect the way the returnee policy is perceived.

9. Conclusion Whether a returnee policy dependent for the highly talented is a ‘win win’ policy can be understood at three levels: the transnational, the national and the individual. Crucially it is the interface between these that is important. However, behind these sets of relationships are the more fundamental questions relating to the economy and nationalism.