Talent attraction policies and firm-level AI intensity: evidence from listed firms in China

This paper examines whether talent attraction policies promote firm-level artificial intelligence (AI) intensity. Using panel data on Chinese listed firms from 2005 to 2023, we exploit the staggered adoption of city-level talent attraction policies and estimate a staggered difference-in-differences model. We find that these policies significantly increase AI intensity among firms located in treated cities. Mechanism analysis shows that these policies increase the accumulation of highly educated employees in local firms. Additional evidence on R&D and digital asset investment is consistent with the capital–skill complementarity channel. We also find that urban digital infrastructure strengthens the policy effect. Moreover, analysis by keyword category shows increases in references to AI applications and complementary digital activities in firms’ annual reports. Further analysis shows that the policy effects are stronger in higher-tier and wealthier cities. These findings provide firm-level causal evidence on the role of human capital in AI development and offer policy implications for designing talent policies that support the diffusion of AI technologies.