Mobility, education and labor market outcomes for U.S. graduates: Is selectivity important?

The literature on human capital, and its positive effects on individuals and regional economies, is now vast. The linkages between human capital and migration have also found a fertile ground in recent years especially in Europe where many studies have focused on interregional migration of graduates and highly skilled individuals. However, the literature on this phenomenon in the USA is less developed. Using the SESTAT database from NSF, this paper aims at contributing to the understanding of inter-state migration behavior of graduates in the USA and its effects on their career outcomes. It builds on the existing literature not only by focusing specifically on the US context, but also incorporating into the empirical model a correction for the possible selection bias that arises from the dual relationship between migration propensity and human capital endowment. Our estimated Mincerian earning equations, corrected for migrant self-selectivity, show that indeed repeat migration is associated with higher average salaries, while late migration is associated with a salary penalty. As for the other control variables, our results are consistent with what has been found in the labor economics literature. Female workers suffer from a salary penalty, while experience, level of education and employer size are all associated with higher average salaries. The labor market also rewards different fields of study differently

The effect of Tourism on the House Market: the case of Sardinia

This paper focuses on the effect of tourism on quality of life (QOL). Two opposite streams of thoughts exist in the related literature. On one side, tourism is seen to be a factor of development, increasing economic opportunities and therefore affecting the QOL of local residents in a positive way. On the other side, tourism is considered a factor of pressure on local areas, because it exploits natural, social and infrastructural resources therefore negatively influencing the QOL.We collected data on all the municipalities in Sardinia (the most famous Italian island as seaside resort) to try and test whether the QOL in touristic locations is positively affected by the presence of tourists. In order to measure the contribution of tourism to QOL, we applied the hedonic price method (HPM). With this methodology, the willingness to pay for QOL, i.e. its “implicit price”, is measured by the differences in property market prices. In particular, our results show that there is a clear distinction between QOL in coastal touristic locations and inland non-touristic places. This confirms our initial idea, that, under certain conditions, tourism can be seen as a positive factor rather than a negative externality. It, indeed, fosters local communities to develop appropriate amenities and facilities. In the final part of the paper, we used the results obtained in the empirical section to propose a classification of all Sardinian municipalities based on the implicit price of QOL. Key words: QOL, HPM.

Knowledge, innovation and collective learning: theory and evidence from three different productive areas in Italy

Innovative capacity of firms has traditionally been explained through intra-firm characteristics, being firms size the most important. A wave of empirical studies identifies small firms as the engines of technological change and innovative activity, at least in certain industries. This statement and these empirical findings constrast the well known observation that, since R&D expenditure is concentrated in large firms, and that innovative output strongly depends on R&D inputs, large firms are expected to drive the technological process. These contrasting results have pushed industrial economists to look for other explanatory variables. In the recent literature much emphasis has been put to determinats which are external to the firm; these external factors are called knowledge spillovers, and refer to the positive externalities that firms receive in terms of knowledge from the environment in which it operates. Both industrial and regional economists underline the importance of knowledge spillovers. As this paper underlines, the main difference between the two groups is that regional economists identify in a clear way the channels through which knowledge spills over a local area. The concept of relational capital is fundamental in this respect. Relation capital is in fact defined as the set of all relationships - market relationships, power relationships, co-operation - established between firms, institutions and people, which stem from a strong sense of belonging and a highly developed capacity of cooperation typical of culturally similar people and institutions. The existence of high relational capital in an area generates stable cooperation between firms and their local suppliers and customers, an efficient local labour market with a high internal mobility of employees and spin-offs from local firms, which are considered as the main channels through which knowledge spreads over a local area. Thus regional economists provide a new insight in the way knowledge develops over space; from the empirical point of view, some qualitative case studies exist which stress collective learning mechanisms, but a real need exists for solid quantitative empirical analyses. The main aims of the present paper are twofold. The first aim is o underline the main differences between industrial and regional economists. The second aim is to provide a quantitative empirical approach using econometric techniques to verify the existence and importance of relational capital on the innovation activity of firms. Proxies are found to represent the channels of collective knowledge and therefore indirectly of relational capital. The different regional, sectoral and firms' characteristics will also be analysed, in order to understand whether they influence the role relational capital has on firms' innovation. It is, indeed, reasonable to expect that relational capital will play a different role in different regional, sectoral and firm's contexts.

Measuring Regional Multipliers: A Comparison between Two Different Methodologies for the Case Of The Italian Regions

This paper focuses on theory and methodology in estimating Keynesian regional multipliers. After introducing the concept of Keynesian multipliers at both national and regional level and describe the database used, two methodologies are compared and applied to the case of the Italian regions: the "Marginal propensities method" (MPM) and the "Aggregate leakages method" (ALM). The higher multipliers values in Southern Italy, resulting from the application of both methodologies, are consistent with similar previous findings and appear to be related to the degree of openness of the local economy, the availability of resources and their marginal productivity, the level of wealth, income distribution and the consequent different consumption patterns. Keywords: Keynesian multipliers, Italian regions, regional disparities JEL-classification: R10, E12, R15

Migration and inter-industry mobility of UK graduates: Effect on earnings and career satisfaction

Career progression is often associated with migration and/or industry change, but the relationship between the two, and their effect on the earnings and career satisfaction of recent graduates are not well understood. We analyse the relationship between migration and inter-industry mobility using longitudinal microdata on 5,000 recent UK graduates who finished their studies in 2002/03, and who were surveyed 6 months and 3 ½ years after graduation. We define migration as a move of more than 15 km from the location of employment, and analyse the effects of a locational move in conjuction, or in the absence of, a change in industry. We allow for the possibility of selection bias, whereby unobservable characteristics may lead graduates to both change their location and/or industry, and earn a higher or lower salary, by estimating a treatment effects model with multinomial choice. Our results indicate that the effect on both earnings and career satisfaction of a change in location is positive, and there is a strong negative effect associated with changing both location and industry. The results also show that the subject of study is an important determinant of both migration choice and career outcomes for UK graduates.

The effect of Tourism on the House Market: the case of Sardinia

This paper focuses on the effect of tourism on quality of life (QOL). Two opposite streams of thoughts exist in the related literature. On one side, tourism is seen to be a factor of development, increasing economic opportunities and therefore affecting the QOL of local residents in a positive way. On the other side, tourism is considered a factor of pressure on local areas, because it exploits natural, social and infrastructural resources therefore negatively influencing the QOL.We collected data on all the municipalities in Sardinia (the most famous Italian island as seaside resort) to try and test whether the QOL in touristic locations is positively affected by the presence of tourists. In order to measure the contribution of tourism to QOL, we applied the hedonic price method (HPM). With this methodology, the willingness to pay for QOL, i.e. its “implicit price”, is measured by the differences in property market prices. In particular, our results show that there is a clear distinction between QOL in coastal touristic locations and inland non-touristic places. This confirms our initial idea, that, under certain conditions, tourism can be seen as a positive factor rather than a negative externality. It, indeed, fosters local communities to develop appropriate amenities and facilities. In the final part of the paper, we used the results obtained in the empirical section to propose a classification of all Sardinian municipalities based on the implicit price of QOL. Key words: QOL, HPM

Human Capital Flows and Regional Knowledge Assets:A Simultaneous Equation Model

Our paper constructs a simultaneous equation model in order to investigate the relationship between interregional human capital knowledge flows and regional knowledge assets. In particular, with the aid of a GIS system, we model the simultaneous relationship between the interregional migration behaviour of UK students and graduates to and from university, the knowledge assets of the regions, and the regions of employment of the graduates. Our results indicate that the innovativeness of a region encourages university graduates to seek employment in that region. However, there is little or no evidence in favour of direct spillovers between university research and regional innovation. Rather, the primary role of universities appears to be as a conduit for bringing potential high quality undergraduate human capital into a region. Many of these migrants will remain in the university region for employment after graduation, thereby subsequently contributing to the innovative performance of the region. We argue therefore that the spillovers of embodied human capital appear far more important than informal spillovers between universities and local firms

Knowledge, innovation and collective learning: theory and evidence from three different productive areas in Italy

Innovative capacity of firms has traditionally been explained through intra-firm characteristics, being firms size the most important. A wave of empirical studies identifies small firms as the engines of technological change and innovative activity, at least in certain industries. This statement and these empirical findings constrast the well known observation that, since R&D expenditure is concentrated in large firms, and that innovative output strongly depends on R&D inputs, large firms are expected to drive the technological process. These contrasting results have pushed industrial economists to look for other explanatory variables. In the recent literature much emphasis has been put to determinats which are external to the firm; these external factors are called knowledge spillovers, and refer to the positive externalities that firms receive in terms of knowledge from the environment in which it operates. Both industrial and regional economists underline the importance of knowledge spillovers. As this paper underlines, the main difference between the two groups is that regional economists identify in a clear way the channels through which knowledge spills over a local area. The concept of relational capital is fundamental in this respect. Relation capital is in fact defined as the set of all relationships - market relationships, power relationships, co-operation - established between firms, institutions and people, which stem from a strong sense of belonging and a highly developed capacity of cooperation typical of culturally similar people and institutions. The existence of high relational capital in an area generates stable cooperation between firms and their local suppliers and customers, an efficient local labour market with a high internal mobility of employees and spin-offs from local firms, which are considered as the main channels through which knowledge spreads over a local area. Thus regional economists provide a new insight in the way knowledge develops over space; from the empirical point of view, some qualitative case studies exist which stress collective learning mechanisms, but a real need exists for solid quantitative empirical analyses. The main aims of the present paper are twofold. The first aim is o underline the main differences between industrial and regional economists. The second aim is to provide a quantitative empirical approach using econometric techniques to verify the existence and importance of relational capital on the innovation activity of firms. Proxies are found to represent the channels of collective knowledge and therefore indirectly of relational capital. The different regional, sectoral and firms' characteristics will also be analysed, in order to understand whether they influence the role relational capital has on firms' innovation. It is, indeed, reasonable to expect that relational capital will play a different role in different regional, sectoral and firm's contexts

The Councilwoman’s Tale. Countering Intimate Partner Homicides by electing women in local councils

Intimate Partner Homicides (IPHs) represent the most extreme violence against women, yet evidence on their socioeconomic determinants is scarce. This paper contributes to fill this gap focusing on Italy, where the ratio IPHs over total female homicides increased by more than 20% in ten years. We build a unique microregional dataset of IPHs between 2012 and 2019. Our instrumental variable model finds that the share of local female political representatives had a substantial negative effect on IPHs. As instrument we exploit exogenous geography of soil composition given its persistent effects on gender-biased cultural norms through historical agricultural practices. Places with more women in local public office experience lower IPHs, due to more gender-equal cultural norms. Spatial spillovers of female political representation do not play any effect. Results have policy implications, as they suggest that female political representation might have positive effect in IPHs reduction, by influencing the transmission of gender norms