Mobility of human capital and its effect on regional economic development. Review of theory and empirical literature

According to economic theory, supported by rich empirical evidence, the ability of an economy to accumulate a high quality human capital is an important factor of economic growth. Since economies better endowed with human capital grow at a higher rate, the mobility of skilled individuals should have a meaningful effect on the economic perspectives of different countries and regions. In this paper we attempt to systematise the existing literature on the impact that human capital mobility has on economic growth and some other aspects of regional development, in order to better understand the channels through which this impact is accomplished and the significance of the observed effects. We complement it with a typology of drivers of highly skilled migration and, finally, we focus on policy efforts at the regional level that aim at raising the human capital level in a region.