Abstract:When talents flow across institutional environments, they may face opportunities and risks at the same time, which means that the relationship between institutional environment and talent mobility may be complex and non-linear, and show more complex superimposed relationships under different flow modes. Therefore, based on institutional theory, this paper incorporates the institutional environment of both inflow and outflow areas into the analysis framework, and explores the impact of institutional distance on cross-regional location selection of mobile talents under different talent flow patterns. The results of m-logistic regression analysis based on LinkedIn (China) online public resume data from 2007 to 2016 show that when talents flow from low institutional environment score areas to high institutional environment score areas, institutional distance first inhibits the probability of talent inflow and then The "U"-shaped impact of promotion, talents over 30 years old, graduate degree, engaged in high-tech industries, in management positions, and from the eastern region are most sensitive to institutional distance; on the contrary, when the flow is reversed by institutional difference, institutional distance significantly inhibits individuals The inflow of talents has the most obvious impact on talents aged 30 to 44 years old, with a postgraduate degree, engaged in high-tech industries, in non-management, technical positions, and from the eastern region. Based on the empirical results, this paper gives the policy inspiration of regional talent introduction from the perspective of creating a good institutional soft environment.