The Economist recently had a Survey of Global Talent. It was superb. At the end of the survey, they gave a list of sources and recommended reading. Here it is for your reference purposes (PS – purchase the Economist survey online here):
Books
Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education, by William Bowen, Martin Kurzweil and Eugene Tobin, University of Virginia Press, 2005.
The Rise of the Creative Class: And how it’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life, by Richard Florida, Basic Books, 2002.
Workforce Wake-up Call, edited by Robert Gandossy, Elissa Tucker and Nidhi Verma (Hewitt Associates), John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
Flight Capital: The Alarming Exodus of America’s Best and Brightest, by David Heenan, Davies-Black Publishing, 2005.
The New Geography: How the Digital Revolution is Reshaping the American Landscape, by Joel Kotkin, Random House, 2000.
Competing for Global Talent, edited by Christiane Kuptsch and Pang Eng Fong, International Institute for Labour Studies, 2006.
Aligning The Stars: How to Succeed when Professionals Drive Results, by Jay Lorsch and Thomas Tierney, Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
The 86% Percent Solution: How to Succeed in the Biggest Market Opportunity of the Next 50 Years by Vijay Mahajan and Kamini Banga, Wharton, 2005.
The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea, by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, Modern Library, 2003.
Free Agent Nation: How America’s New Independent Workers are Transforming the Way We Live, by Daniel Pink, Warner Books, 2001.
Further recommendations
The War for Talent, by Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones, Beth Axelrod. Harvard Business School Press (October 2001)
Papers
Overcoming the Challenges in China Operations, Boston Consulting Group and Wharton.
Attracting and Retaining Critical Talent Segments: Building a Competitive Employment Value Proposition, Corporate Leadership Council 2006-2007 Executive Retreats.
It’s 2008: Do you Know where your Talent is?, by Deloitte Research, 2004.
The CEO’s Role in Talent Management: How Top Executives from Ten Countries are Nurturing the Leaders of Tomorrow, Economist Intelligence Unit, 2006.
Emerging Global Labour Market, McKinsey Global Institute, 2005.
International Mobility of the Highly Skilled, OECD, 2001.
The Divergence of Human Capital Across Cities, by Christopher Berry and Edward Glaeser, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 11617, September 2005.
GE’s Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO, by Christopher Bartlett and Andrew McLean, Harvard Business School, Case 9-304-049, 2005.
The 21st-Century Organisation, by Lowell Bryan and Claudia Joyce, McKinsey Quarterly 2005, Number 3.
The University and the Creative Economy, by Richard Florida, Gary Gates, Brian Knudsen and Kevin Stolarick, 2006.
Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs, by Boris Groysberg and Scott Snook. Harvard Business School, Case 9-406-002, 2006.
General Electric’s 20th Century CEOs, by Nitin Nohria, Anthony Mayo and Mark Benson, Harvard Business School, Case 9-406-048, 2005.