From south to north: Internal student migration in Italy

This chapter examines mobility from the point of view of territories, and aims to classify university graduates according to their migration behaviour when entering higher education and after college completion. It provides descriptive evidence on the composition of these groups, in order to evaluate the human capital loss associated to student and graduate mobility investing the southern macro area. The structural determinants of internal student mobility in Italy have been addressed by a few studies examining aggregated migration flows of students across Italian provinces. Internal student mobility involves a transfer of economic resources from south to north. Italy has long been characterized by out-migration waves. The chapter investigates which individual characteristics play a role in shaping the size and direction of student and graduate mobility flows. Due to data availability, it focuses on young individuals who enrol in university within 3 years from the end of high school.