University quality, interregional brain drain and spatial inequality. The case of Italy.

Ciriaci, Daria (2009): University quality, interregional brain drain and spatial inequality. The case of Italy.

Abstract

Universities are increasingly recognized as key driver of economic development through their role in knowledge production and human capital accumulation, and as attraction poles for talents. That is why this paper analyses the sequential migration behaviour of Italian students-graduates before their enrolment at university, and after graduation, and the role that university quality has in these choices. From a regional development perspective, a better understanding of the causes of Italian interregional brain drain may help to guide policy intervention aimed at reversing or partially compensating for its negative effects on the source regions. The results confirm ‘university quality’ as a «supply» tool for policy makers to counterbalance the negative effects of the brain drain on human capital accumulation.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Brain-drain, labour mobility, university quality, regional economic disparities.
• Subjects: R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R5 - Regional Government Analysis > R58 - Regional Development Planning and Policy; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers > J61 - Geographic Labor Mobility ; Immigrant Workers; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R2 - Household Analysis > R23 - Regional Migration ; Regional Labor Markets ; Population ; Neighborhood Characteristics

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