Exploiting information on the universe of activations and terminations of employment contracts in Italy in the period between 2010 and 2018, the study estimates the causal relationship between job creation and destruction and internal labour migration flows.
Job creation has a strong impact on immigration, whereas job destruction has a milder effect on emigration. While positive labour demand variations lead to migration inflows even from remote areas, negative ones lead to outflows mainly to neighbouring areas. Finally, increased immigration occurs through changes in migrants' destination choices, rather than through an increased propensity to migrate.
