The Impact of International Talent Inflow on Technological Innovation: The Moderating Role of Guanxi Culture and Social Trust

• Published in: SAGE open Vol. 14; no. 3
• Main Authors: Li, Chunhao, Wang, Chengsi, Wu, Lei, Zhang, Rui, Niu, Xiongying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.07.2024; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Culture; social trust; cultural environment; international talent inflow; technological innovation; Guanxi culture
• ISSN: 2158-2440; 2158-2440
• DOI: 10.1177/21582440241268801

This paper studies the effect of international talent inflow on technological innovation and the influence of the Chinese cultural environment on their relationship. Based on provincial-level data from 2000 to 2012, we construct a static panel data model to explore the effects of international talents on technological innovation and the moderating role of Guanxi culture and social trust in the above relationship. We find that international talent inflow positively impacts technological innovation. Guanxi culture significantly negatively impacts technological innovation and negatively moderates the relationship between international talent inflow and technological innovation. Social trust significantly positively impacts technological innovation and positively moderates the relationship between international talent inflow and technological innovation. The interaction between social trust and Guanxi culture has a significant positive effect on technological innovation. The study shows that different cultural environments have an essential impact on developing international talent’s innovation ability. This paper provides evidence for the need to improve China’s cultural environment and provides important implications for the formulation of talent policies. Based on this, we suggest improving the talent introduction system, optimizing the relationship culture, and building a good social trust system to promote regional innovation. Plain language summary In this paper, we found that international talent inflow positively impacts on technological innovation. Guanxi culture significantly negatively impacts on technological innovation and negatively moderating the relationship between international talent inflow and technological innovation. Social trust significantly positively impacts on technological innovation and positively moderates the relationship between international talent inflows and technological innovation. The interaction between social trust and Guanxi culture has a significant positive effect on technological innovation. This study makes several contributions to the literature. First, it enriches the research on the influence of informal institutions in the field of international talents and reveals the boundary conditions for the role of international talents. Second, it deepens the research on the influence of culture with Chinese characteristics and enriches the empirical research on Guanxi culture in management. Lastly, it expands the antecedents of technological innovation. There are some limitations to this study. First, in addition to the negative side of the Guanxi culture, there is also a positive side. This study only uses the time invested by entrepreneurs and corporate entertainment expenses to explore its effect. Therefore, future research can analyze both sides of Guanxi culture. Second, Guanxi culture is just one of China’s core cultures. Other cultures such as favor and face are also cross-cultural adaptation issues that international talents must face. It is necessary to discuss them. Third, limited to data availability, the social trust data only covers 7 years. Therefore, more relevant alternative indicators can be sought to verify the results in the future.