Abstract

This paper reviews the literature on the mobility of talents, i.e. highlyskilled individuals, at the regional level. In particular, it focuses on three main aspects related to such mobility. First, it reviews the main studies on the determinants of highlyskilled individuals' mobility by distinguishing between individual motivations to move and local attraction factors at destination. Second, it reports on the studies focusing on the role of talents' mobility in the spatial diffusion of knowledge, within and across regions, and in the enhancement of knowledge flows from origin to destination places and in reverse. Third, it presents the main studies on the impact of talents' mobility on the innovative and economic capacity of destination places by highlighting the context conditions favouring a positive impact of such inflows in the recipient areas. Existing studies developed along these lines of inquiry are critically examined and, finally, future directions for research are identified and outlined.