The Private and Social Return to Schooling in Italy

We estimate the private (individual) and social return to schooling in Italy and four macro-regions. Our estimates take into account the effects of schooling on employment and wages as well as the key features of the Italian tax and social insurance system. We find that the individual return to schooling compares favorably to the return to financial assets (especially in the South). At the social level, the available infrastructure capital data indicates that the return to schooling exceeds that to infrastructures in the South.