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Why so slow? The School-to-Work Transition in Italy

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  • Pastore, Francesco

Abstract

This essay provides a comprehensive interpretative framework to understand the reasons why the school-to-work transition (SWT) is so slow and hard in Italy. The country is a typical example of the South European SWT regime, where the educational system is typically rigid and sequential, the labor market has been recently made more flexible through two-tier labor market reforms, and the family has typicallyan important role to absorb the individual and social cost of the passage to adulthood. The main thesis of this essay is that the traditional disorganization of the educational and training system coupled with slow economic growth, rather than the supposedly low degree of labor market flexibility explain high (youth) unemployment. Important reforms of several tiles of the Italian SWT regime – the Jobs Act, important fiscal incentives to hiring youth long term unemployed, the so-called Good School and the related introduction of work-related learning, the European Youth Guarantee and the reform of employment services – have been all recently implemented, which are causing a slow convergence towards the so-called European social model, but it is still too early to draw conclusions as to the impact of such reforms on youth labor market outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Pastore, Francesco, 2017. "Why so slow? The School-to-Work Transition in Italy," GLO Discussion Paper Series 65, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:65
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    Cited by:

    1. Francesco Pastore & Claudio Quintano & Antonella Rocca, 2020. "Stuck at a crossroads? The duration of the Italian school-to-work transition," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(3), pages 442-469, September.
    2. Caroleo, Floro Ernesto & Pastore, Francesco, 2017. "Investing in human capital to boost growth!," GLO Discussion Paper Series 144, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Francesco Pastore & Marco Pompili, 2020. "Assessing the Impact of Off-the-Job and On-the-Job Training on Employment Outcomes: A Counterfactual Evaluation of the PIPOL Program," Evaluation Review, , vol. 44(2-3), pages 145-184, April.
    4. Pastore, Francesco, 2020. "The quasi-market of employment services in Italy," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1248-1269.
    5. Doruk, Ömer Tuğsal & Pastore, Francesco, 2020. "School to Work Transition and Macroeconomic Conditions in the Turkish Economy," GLO Discussion Paper Series 730, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Ruggero Cefalo & Rosario Scandurra & Yuri Kazepov, 2020. "Youth Labor Market Integration in European Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-18, May.
    7. Pastore, Francesco & Pompili, Marco, 2019. "Assessing the Impact of Off- and On-The-Job Training on Employment Outcomes: A Counterfactual Evaluation of the PIPOL Program," IZA Discussion Papers 12074, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Antonella Rocca & Paolo Mazzocchi & Claudio Quintano, 2020. "Being NEET in Europe Before and After the Economic Crisis: An Analysis of the Micro and Macro Determinants," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 991-1024, June.
    9. Giulia Martina Tanzi, 2020. "Scars of youth non-employment and labour market conditions," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1312, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    10. Irene Brunetti & Lorenzo Corsini, 2019. "School-to-work transition and vocational education: a comparison across Europe," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(8), pages 1411-1437, July.
    11. Aina, Carmen & Brunetti, Irene & Mussida, Chiara & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2021. "Even more discouraged? The NEET generation at the age of COVID-19," GLO Discussion Paper Series 863, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    12. Corinna Ghirelli & Enkelejda Havari & Giulia Santangelo & Marta Scettri, 2019. "Does on-the-job training help graduates find a job? Evidence from an Italian region," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(3), pages 500-524, February.
    13. Alina Stundziene & Vilda Giziene, 2023. "Determinants of Young People with Secondary Education Being Employed," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-17, January.
    14. Ross, Timothy & Buliung, Ronald, 2019. "Access work: Experiences of parking at school for families living with childhood disability," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 289-299.
    15. Kang, Yoo-Duk, 2021. "Determinants of Youth Unemployment: Empirical Analysis of OECD and EU Member Countries," Journal of Economic Development, The Economic Research Institute, Chung-Ang University, vol. 46(3), pages 111-133, September.
    16. Giulia Parola, 2020. "Escape from parents? basement? Post COVID-19 scenarios for the future of youth employment in Italy," QUADERNI DI ECONOMIA DEL LAVORO, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2020(111), pages 51-71.
    17. Elisabetta Marinelli & Alessio Cavicchi & Annamaria Fiore & Gigliola Paviotti & Elisa Gerussi & Simona Iammarino, 2018. "Higher Education Instruments and Smart Specialisation Innovative Industrial Doctorates and Higher Technical Institutes in Puglia," JRC Research Reports JRC113412, Joint Research Centre.
    18. Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Francesco Pastore, 2019. "The Italian lowgrowth conundrum: An assessment and some policy lessons," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 20(01), pages 33-39, April.
    19. Pastore, Francesco, 2018. "New Education Models for the Workforce of the Future," IZA Policy Papers 143, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Francesco Pastore, 2018. "Why is youth unemployment so high and different across countries?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 420-420, January.
    21. Seo, Chunghyeon & Kruis, Nathan E., 2022. "The impact of school’s security and restorative justice measures on school violence," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    22. Pastore, Francesco, 2018. "New Education Models for the Future of Work Force," GLO Discussion Paper Series 267, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    23. Maria Symeonaki & Glykeria Stamatopoulou, 2020. "On the Measurement of Positive Labor Market Mobility," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(3), pages 21582440209, July.
    24. Joan Miquel Verd & Oriol Barranco & Mireia Bolíbar, 2019. "Youth unemployment and employment trajectories in Spain during the Great Recession: what are the determinants?," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 53(1), pages 1-20, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    School-to-Work Transition; Youth Experience Gap; Human Capital Theory; Dual Principle; European Youth Guarantee; Italy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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