The aim of this paper is to explain the economic causes and consequences of the sharp decline in Italy’s fertility rate, the most dramatic decline in the world together with that in Japan. The main cause is shown to originate in the mid-seventies: a sudden increase in the unemployment rate...

The paper provides an analysis of labour mobility in Italy, with a joint analysis of residence transfers and "long-range� commuting. In the period 1990-2005, migration inflows have increased in the Centre North, both in short- and long-range component. In the South, by contrast, the low...