ABSTRACT Currently, the gradual fading of China's traditional demographic dividend has inhibited rapid economic growth. The talent dividend, serving as the localized practice of the ‘second demographic dividend’, is regarded by the Chinese government as the key to promoting high‐quality economic development. The development of the digital economy introduces digital technologies and knowledge, breaking down barriers to the flow of labour information and providing an opportunity to unleash the talent dividend. This study first measures the talent dividend from three aspects: talent scale, talent efficiency and talent allocation. It then analyzes the impact of digital economy development on the talent dividend using a two‐way fixed effects model, in conjunction with the digital economy development index at the prefecture‐level city scale. The results show that digital economy development significantly promotes the formation of the urban talent scale dividend, the talent efficiency dividend, and the talent allocation dividend. Moderating effect analysis reveals that with the improvement of fiscal autonomy and marketization levels, the role of digital economy development in releasing the talent dividend is enhanced. This implies that the incentive effect of digital economy development on the talent dividend requires institutional guarantees of a ‘capable government and efficient market’. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the promoting effect of digital economy development on the talent dividend is more significant in cities with higher economic development levels, better medical security and higher education levels. Notably, ordinary prefecture‐level cities exhibit a more significant effect in the formation of talent scale and efficiency dividends, while southern cities demonstrate a superior advantage in releasing talent efficiency and allocation dividends compared to northern cities. This study not only confirms the empowering role of the digital economy on the talent dividend but also offers valuable ‘Chinese experience’ for countries at different development stages to unleash their talent dividends through digital economic development.
Zhang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.