China's new research evaluation policy: Evidence from economics faculty of Elite Chinese universities

•In light of the new indigenization research evaluation policy, we provide evidence-based insights on personnel management policies regarding internationalization and Returnees.•Web Crawler technology was utilized to build a database of economics faculty's publication quantity and quality in Chinese outlets between 2005 and 2019.•Economists from elite Chinese universities reported the intra-departmental collaboration climate in a large-scale survey.•Returnees publish higher quality indigenous research than Domestics.•Departmental Returnee density positively predicts the quality of indigenous research of both Domestics and Returnees, and these positive spillover effects are strengthened when the intra-departmental collaboration climate is strong.