IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/gfe/pfrp00/00073.html

From south to north…and beyond: Educational selectivity and migration trajectories in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Roberto Basile

    (Sapienza Università di Roma – Dipartimento di Studi Giuridici ed Economici)

  • Francesca Centofanti

    (Università di Roma “Tor Vergataâ€)

  • Francesca Licari

    (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT))

Abstract

This paperanalyzesthemigrationtrajectoriesofyoungindividualsborninSouthernItaly who movedtotheNorthbetween2011and2014.Usinglongitudinalmicrodataanddiscrete- time competingrisksmodels,weexaminewhethertheseinternalmigrantsaremorelikelyto return totheSouthoremigrateabroad.Resultsrevealastrongeducationalgradient:highly educated individualsaresignificantlymorelikelytousetheNorthasaspringboardforin- ternational migration,whileless-educatedindividualstendtoreturnhome.Thesefindings shed lightonthedynamicinterplaybetweeninternalandinternationalmobility,andthe enduring challengesofbraindrainintheMezzogiorno.

Suggested Citation

  • Roberto Basile & Francesca Centofanti & Francesca Licari, 2025. "From south to north…and beyond: Educational selectivity and migration trajectories in Italy," Public Finance Research Papers 73, Istituto di Economia e Finanza, DSGE, Sapienza University of Rome.
  • Handle: RePEc:gfe:pfrp00:00073
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.dsge.uniroma1.it/sites/default/files/pubblicazioni/economia/e-pfrp73.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aude Bernard & Sergi Vidal, 2023. "Linking internal and international migration over the life course: A sequence analysis of individual migration trajectories in Europe," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 77(3), pages 515-537, September.
    2. Romano Piras, 2021. "Migration flows by educational attainment: Disentangling the heterogeneous role of push and pull factors," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 515-542, June.
    3. Larry A. Sjaastad, 1970. "The Costs and Returns of Human Migration," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Harry W. Richardson (ed.), Regional Economics, chapter 9, pages 115-133, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Dustmann, Christian, 2003. "Return migration, wage differentials, and the optimal migration duration," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 353-369, April.
    5. Rebecca Diamond, 2016. "The Determinants and Welfare Implications of US Workers' Diverging Location Choices by Skill: 1980-2000," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(3), pages 479-524, March.
    6. Michel Beine & Simone Bertoli & Jesús Fernández-Huertas Moraga, 2016. "A Practitioners’ Guide to Gravity Models of International Migration," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 496-512, April.
    7. Aude Bernard & Francisco Perales, 2021. "Is Migration a Learned Behavior? Understanding the Impact of Past Migration on Future Migration," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(2), pages 449-474, June.
    8. Daria Ciriaci, 2014. "Does University Quality Influence the Interregional Mobility of Students and Graduates? The Case of Italy," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(10), pages 1592-1608, October.
    9. Ugo Fratesi & Marco Percoco, 2014. "Selective Migration, Regional Growth and Convergence: Evidence from Italy," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(10), pages 1650-1668, October.
    10. George J. Borjas & Bernt Bratsberg, 2021. "Who Leaves? The Outmigration Of The Foreign-Born," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 5, pages 93-104, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    11. repec:sae:mrxval:v:23:y:1989:i:3:p:457-485 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Frédéric Docquier & Hillel Rapoport, 2012. "Globalization, Brain Drain, and Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(3), pages 681-730, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maximiliano Alvarez & Aude Bernard & Scott N. Lieske, 2025. "Explaining interregional migration trends in developed countries: a regional perspective," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 68(5), pages 2413-2453, May.
    2. Tiwari, Smriti, 2021. "Do macroeconomic fluctuations at destination matter in determining migrants’ return decisions?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    3. Luigi Capoani & Cristoforo Imbesi & Francesca Rinaldi & Claudio Annibali, 2024. "Return migration, self-selection and labour market outcomes," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2024(2), pages 191-228.
    4. Tang, Sam Hak Kan & Wang, Yichen & Wang, Yong, 2025. "Curse of low-skilled emigration on human capital formation: Evidence from the migration surge of the 2000s," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    5. Sílvio Rendon & Alfredo Cuecuecha, 2010. "International job search: Mexicans in and out of the US," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 53-82, March.
    6. Sebastian Heise & Tommaso Porzio, 2019. "Spatial Wage Gaps and Frictional Labor Markets," Staff Reports 898, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    7. Richard V. Burkhauser & Markus H. Hahn & Matthew Hall & Nicole Watson, 2016. "Australia Farewell: Predictors of Emigration in the 2000s," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(2), pages 197-215, April.
    8. Dean Yang, 2006. "Why Do Migrants Return to Poor Countries? Evidence From Philippine Migrants%u2019 Responses to Exchange Rate Shocks," NBER Working Papers 12396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Jacopo Bassetto & Giuseppe Ippedico, 2024. "Tax incentives and return migration," Discussion Papers 2024-05, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    10. Burzyński, Michał, 2018. "Time, Space, And Skills In Designing Migration Policy," Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 84(4), pages 355-417, December.
    11. Cristian Bartolucci & Mathis Wagner & Claudia Villosio, 2013. "Who Migrates and Why?," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 333, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    12. Dustmann, Christian & Glitz, Albrecht, 2011. "Migration and Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 327-439, Elsevier.
    13. Angela S. Bergantino & Antonello Clemente & Stefano Iandolo & Riccardo Turati, 2025. "Shaped by Urban-Rural Divide and Skill: the Drivers of Internal Mobility in Italy," Working Papers wpdea2513, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    14. Christian Dustmann & Giovanni Facchini & Cora Signorotto, 2015. "Population, Migration, Ageing and Health: A Survey," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 1518, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).
    15. Sara Binassi & Giovanni Guidetti & Mariele Macaluso & Giulio Pedrini, 2021. "Assessing selection patterns and wage differentials of high-skilled migrants. Evidence from Italian graduates working abroad," QUADERNI DI ECONOMIA DEL LAVORO, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(113), pages 83-115.
    16. Marco Cintio & Emanuele Grassi, 2017. "International mobility and wages: an analysis of Italian Ph.D. graduates," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(3), pages 759-791, November.
    17. Jan Saarela & Kirk Scott, 2017. "Mother Tongue, Host Country Earnings, and Return Migration: Evidence from Cross-National Administrative Records," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 542-564, June.
    18. Jennifer Hunt, 2004. "Are migrants more skilled than non-migrants? Repeat, return, and same-employer migrants," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 37(4), pages 830-849, November.
    19. Qin, Fei, 2015. "Global talent, local careers: Circular migration of top Indian engineers and professionals," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 405-420.
    20. Dean Yang, 2006. "Why Do Migrants Return to Poor Countries? Evidence from Philippine Migrants' Responses to Exchange Rate Shocks," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(4), pages 715-735, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gfe:pfrp00:00073. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Valeria De Bonis (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ierosit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.