Abstract

The paper analyses the imbalances of the Sicilian labour market by comparing it to that of the regions of Northern Italy. The systematic waste of the human capital resources provided by the highly educated youths, both in terms of unemployment and of overducation, is mainly explained by structural and institutional characteristics that act on the demand side: the regional economy is not able to create employment despite the predominance of the service sector; the employment structure is polarized and segmented both horizontally and vertically by profession; the firms have size limits and appear to be weak from the point of view of both organization and competition; the public rules are inadequate in terms of policies to foster local development and public employment. The results of our analysis contribute to the overcoming of the 'supply strabismus' of employment policies which derives from the overestimation of the roles of flexibility and professional training.