The Brain Drain of Italians: Are the Southern Regions Doomed?

Roberto Basile (), Francesca Licari (), Francesca Centofanti (), Cinzia Castagnaro () and Elena Ambrosetti ()
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Roberto Basile: Department of Legal and Economic Studies, Sapienza University of Rome
Francesca Licari: Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT)
Francesca Centofanti: University of Rome "Tor Vergata"
Cinzia Castagnaro: Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT)
Elena Ambrosetti: Department of Methods and Models for Economics, Territory and Finance, Sapienza University of Rome

No 76, Public Finance Research Papers from Istituto di Economia e Finanza, DSGE, Sapienza University of Rome

Abstract: This paper provides new evidence on the brain drain in Italy. Building on the framework proposed by Becker, Ichino, and Peri (2004), we measure brain drain through a comprehensive set of indicators. Unlike previous studies, we account for return migration — not just emigration — of Italians and assess brain drain as the net loss of human capital. We also explore the interplay between international and internal migration, with particular attention to the outflow of high-skilled workers from Southern to Northern Italy. The findings show that, over the period 2013–2023, the migration of highly qualified youth from the South to the North more than offset the international brain drain affecting the North, while significantly deepening the human capital depletion in the South. Finally, we exploit new data on the educational attainment of foreign immigrants, assessing their contribution to the dynamics of human capital at both national and regional level.

Keywords: Brain drain; Italian migration; Mezzogiorno; internal migration; human capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 J24 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38
Date: 2025-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-lma
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