Lack of Meritocracy in Italy. An Economic and Social Cost

The paper addresses the economic and social consequences of the lack of meritocracy in Italy. The analysis starts from the inspection of the Meritometro (2016), an index measuring the level of merit in Europe. Nepotism, low investments on education, distrust in the merit system and the lack of a specific evaluation of quality teaching are among the main causes of brain drain, high early leaving and NEET rates, on the social side, and of public debt increase and economic growth slowdown, on the economic side. The paper proposes some measures for fighting the high corruption level and reforming the entire education system. A graphical data exploration and a simulation-based analysis demonstrate how these quantitative solutions may be efficient overtime for Italy.