Mobility Divides: Gender, Nationality, and the Role of Institutions in Italy’s Internal Migration

Abstract We study interprovincial migration flows in Italy from 2004 to 2019. Using a theoretically grounded gravity model, the analysis separately investigates push and pull factors for total flows, females, males, Italians and foreigners. Along with traditional macroeconomic and demographic factors, we introduce an index of institutional quality. Our empirical findings show that citizenship is the most decisive dimension, producing distinct migration patterns across nearly all determinants. The nationality dimension shows that foreigners exhibit significantly greater geographic mobility than their Italian counterparts. Gender differences are comparatively minor, primarily evident in responses to population, human capital and unemployment. This heterogeneity highlights the pivotal role of socioeconomic and institutional structural characteristics in shaping differentiated patterns of internal migration in Italy.