Oltre la scuola dellÕobbligo. Un' analisi empirica della decisione di proseguire nellÕistruzione post-obbligatoria in Italia

In this paper we analyse the decision to continue in post-compulsory education in Italy. Using data from the Survey of Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) of the Bank of Italy we estimate binary choice models (probit and logit) with the primary aim of investigating factors which affect the decision to continue in post-compulsory education. The estimates of the econometric model show that the individual with the smallest probability to continue in education has one or more of the following attributes: residence in the South, in big towns, father without formal education, self-employed or working in the agricultural sector, mother with less than high secondary schooling (licenza media superiore). The role of family income in shaping educational decisions is especially important in Central and Southern Italy, where income levels are lower. The economic variables whose role is emphasised by the mainstream approach to educational choices, the theory of human capital, turn out not to be significant in the explanation of post-compulsory schooling in Italy where social and long-term and short-term family factors appear to be dominant.