‘Get back to where you once belonged’? Effects of skilled internal migration on Italian regional green growth

Abstract

The paper investigates the effects of internal migration on green growth in Italian regions. We use employment in "sustainable" sectors to measure green growth, resorting to a novel measure based on the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities. Using data from 103 Italian regions (NUTS3) from 2008 to 2018, we find that highly skilled interregional migrants are positively related to green employment in their destinations. The effect is possibly due to return migrants to the Southern regions. Overall, the evidence emphasizes the importance of human capital migration in sustainable development.