ABSTRACT
In the last four decades economists have been increasingly concerned with the study of the nature, determinants and effects of the knowledge acquired by employees over the span of their lives. Moreover, in the last decade or so, due to the widening of the ‘mismatch’ and ‘skill shortage’ phenomena, economic research has been more and more entrusted with exploring the skill needs of the firms, particularly in countries such as Italy, where a high and persistent unemployment coexists with such phenomena.
