Faculty recruitment has become a new challenge for public higher education institutions (HEIs) in China since the 1990s. Based on the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) Framework, this study analyzed the faculty recruitment preferences and the effects of selected organizational factors on these preferences at top national HEIs from 2002 to 2016. Regression analysis results revealed the predominant effects of faculty mobility, student enrollments and total revenue on the variances of total new faculty, newly graduated faculty and experienced new faculty respectively. The categorical independent variables of prestige, type, merger and region exerted small but statistically significant influences on faculty recruitment. This study concluded that the recently developed academic market in China is already hierarchically stratified. HEIs with greater resources, privilege and advantageous external environment dominated the academic market with potential negative impact on the equity and vitality of the entire higher education sector.