Does your creativity matter for the individual wage you receive and does the return to creativity depend on the external milieus as reflected in the city size of at workplaces? Using occupational mobility as a vehicle of analysis, this paper addresses this question. It dives into the issue of approaching creativity based on a microeconomic approach rather than an approach ascribing to economics at the regional. This is a based on a unique empirical approach of identification, which takes hand of the discussions of creativity being intertwined with educational performance. Keeping education attainment constant at the individual level, the analysis begs the question if effects of creativity can be observed.

Based on a microeconomic approach using longitudinal data, the approach avoids education as a confounding factor for creativity. Wage effects of creativity are in this approach identified from considering a job change between two employers that also sees occupational mobility in sense of changing from a non-creative job type to a creative job type. Job changes between employers on the one hand ensures that wage outcomes from non-creative to creative occupations reflect market outcomes of job matching but on the other hand may entail issues of employers learning productivity. Our approach furthermore considers the importance of external milieus, as it considers the wage effects of such job changes in different milieus comparing workplaces in small cities compared to larger cities with stronger agglomeration dynamics in labour markets.

The health care sector is one of the largest sectors in many European countries, as well as one with the tightest labour market conditions: the ageing population and increased longevity increases demand for care and thus for employees. At this backdrop, this study assesses the careers of health care workers. It does so in two primary dimensions: transitions within individual careers, and urban-rural differences across careers. In the first, we use register data to provide an understanding of the in- and outflow of detailed health care sectors in the Netherlands, which presents a picture of the labour market dynamics that underlie the current shortage of health care professionals. Although the empirical setting is within the health care sector, the study argues in a more general sense how a career perspective focusing on transitions is helpful in understanding and addressing labour market shortages. The geographical dimension of the analysis focuses on rural areas. The rural population is generally older, increasing demand for care in these areas. At the same time, the centralization of care typically pushes (larger) care facilities away from the most rural areas. As such, understanding the dynamics in labour shortages in a geographical context is important information for policy makers. For our analysis, we draw on individual career data that spans the entirety of the Dutch labour market. It holds detailed information on educational background, job mobility and residential mobility. In addition, it has socio-economic indicators including wage as well as demographic characteristics.

This paper contributes to the Brain Drain discussion with a territorial analysis with a focus on the North of Netherlands and a limited comparison with similar areas in Germany and Denmark. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the consequences of brain drain and, more broadly, brain circulation on social and territorial cohesion. The paper identifies the economic sectors and job categories most affected and explore how regional economies can adapt to a shrinking (highly skilled) labour force and still achieve a shift to a more productive knowledge based economy. It will investigate the long-term consequences, the different drivers, and potential comprehensive solutions at all levels of
governance to stop or even reverse brain drain. To shed light on this the focus of this study is on the
North of the Netherlands covering the three northern provinces Groningen, Fryslân and Drenthe. This region borders the UNECSO World Heritage Wadden Sea, the largest tidal flat system in the world, with Outstanding Universal Nature Value, stretching along a coastal strip of about 500 kilometres from the North of the Netherlands via Germany up to Denmark. Due to data problems a detailed comparable analysis encompassing the whole area in the three countries is not well possible. Therefore, the findings for the North of the Netherlands will be compared with the coastal areas in Germany and Denmark.

High education istitutions can play an important role in the socio-economic development of marginal regions. On the one hand, they can estabilish multiple and virtuous relations with local companies and institutions, which then can take benefit from the knowledge and the human capital created. On the other hand, the attraction of university students can have various and revitilising effects on the local society and economy.
The aim of this work is to analyze the role of Università della Valle d’Aosta in the regional socio-economic context of the Aosta valley, a tiny mountain region in Northern Italy, investigating the point of view of stakeholders through the Policy Delphi technique.
We first present the case of the Aosta Valley, focusing on the local University and its main characteristics (enrolled student population, educational offer, teaching staff, research activity, etc.). Secondly, we present and discuss the results of the Policy Delphi investigation conducted on a panel of local stakeholders. We assessed the current and potential role of Università della Valle d’Aosta in the regional socio-economic context, identifying future scenarios, and defining strategies and relevant policies.
The outcomes of our investigation show that Università della valle d’Aosta currently does not a play a driving role in the local economy. It does not meet the needs of local companies. Stakeholders think that the local University should have more intense and systematic relations with the institutions and the local business community in the future, and a greater adherence of its educational offer to the local specializations.