Mezzogiorno, Migration Flows and Output Divergence

The internal migration flows from the Italian Mezzogiorno to Central and Northern Italy have recently begun to increase once more. The idea suggested in this article is that the intensification of internal migration in Italy can be associated with a twofold dynamics residing in the significant upward convergence between the Centre- North and the Mezzogiorno in educational levels and the progressive divergence between the two areas in their productive structures. As shown by the factor content of trade, this output divergence has been sustained by recent internationalization processes that have had asymmetric impact on the Italian regions.