Graduate over-education and spatial mobility in Italy

Abstract

This chapter analyses the micro-level determinants of the education–job (mis)matches of recent university graduates in Italy. As the Italian graduate population has experienced increasing internal migration, this paper focuses in particular on the role of inter-regional migration in driving education–job match. The methodology takes into account both the endogenous relationship between migration and employment, and the self-selection bias between employment and education–job (mis)match. Using a survey on Italian graduates’ entry into the labour market, it is found that whilst migration at the national level is confirmed to have a positive role in both finding a job and decreasing the probability of over-education, robust differences emerge when looking at the sub-national dimension. Indeed, the northern regions, by receiving inflows of southern graduates who manage to attain a good education–job match in the recipient labour markets, are apparently reaping part of the return to the investment in university education born in the south.