The Positive Effects of the Wartime Relocation of Universities to China's Interior on the Output of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Academicians and the Underlying Mechanisms

Drawing on the "relocation of universities to the interior" (gaoxiao neiqian) during 1937–1945, this paper uses data on 1,399 academicians and a cohort difference-in-differences model to examine the long-term effects of this relocation movement on the cultivation of outstanding talent. The study finds that, compared with cohorts who were unborn or in infancy, preschool, or young adulthood, the relocation significantly promoted human capital accumulation among cohorts who were in childhood or adolescence. Identification with self-worth and political beliefs, as well as improvements in living conditions, were important channels for the development of outstanding talent in the destination regions. The effects were relatively larger in regions that received higher shares of relocated national and provincial universities. In addition, effects were more likely when the destination region was a provincial capital and when the academician's institution at the time of selection was a domestic university.