INTERNAL MIGRATION ACROSS ITALIAN REGIONS: MACROECONOMIC DETERMINANTS AND ACCOMMODATING POTENTIAL FOR A DUALISTIC ECONOMY

We investigate internal migration across Italian regions and provide empirical evidence that the share of young population, per capita GDP, unemployment rate and migrants' human capital are the main determinants of migration flows across Italian regions from 1970 to 2002. We deal with the issues of non‐stationarity and co‐integration and estimate an error‐correction model in which both the short‐ and long‐run dynamics are modelled simultaneously. As far as the accommodating potential of internal migration to regional unbalances is concerned, we detect little room for such a role. Indeed, the degree of labour mobility across Italian regions cannot be active as an effective equilibrating mechanism.