How Could Higher Education System Help Attract International Organisations? Differences Between China, the U.S., Switzerland, and the Netherlands

Abstract

As more regions seek to attract international organisations (IOs) to improve their lack of voice in the global community, researchers have increasingly examined the factors that influence the IO location decisions. While these studies inform policy development, most focus on external factors such as international relations, with limited attention to a city's internal qualities. We reviewed the existing literature systematically to identify the factors that influence the location selection of IOs and deeply discussed the neglected factors as well as how to improve them. We especially explored “talents gathering” factor and analysed what could the higher education system contribute to it. We found out three main influencing factors: economy, government action, and talent gathering, among which the third is the most pivotal one. Specifically, even economically robust regions might lose IOs if political instability or other issues hinder timely payment of dues. Government policies should foster networks to prevent competition between different levels of governance. Additionally, IO tends to have less mobile talent pools compared to other industries, making it harder for these organisations to establish a talent base in new locations. Furthermore, an interesting finding is that higher education may greatly foster building the IO ecosystem within a city. We found that, compared to Western models, Chinese universities lack specialised programs to train professionals for IOs, offer insufficient practical resources, and are unaware of the need to establish employment support systems. These observations highlight the need for decision-makers of higher education institutions (HEIs) and governments to maximise resources to build the local IO ecosystem and IO employment support system.