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Abstract

Migration flows can influence many social aspects of the hosting countries, including their tendency to make investments in human capital. We examine how migrant inflows affect the proportion of students who drop out of school before completing their tertiary education in Italy. The hypothesis is that societies with higher proportions of immigrants tend to have more younger people (born abroad) in school who may have trouble adapting to local educational systems. With a regional analysis (using fixed- and random-effects models), we observe that the relationship exists and a higher percentage of migrants during the period 2003-2021 tends to decrease the dropout rates. The effect is potentially the result of greater interest from policy-makers due to the larger migratory inflows in recent decades, and the larger share of migrants in schools. This has led to greater involvement in specific investments for the benefit of all. We suggest how possible interventions can help the development of human capital and better integration of young migrants.