Migration Potential of Students and Development of Human Capital

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Thanks for the opportunity to revise the paper. I find it interesting, very well written and relevant, although different points should be strengthened. Apologies for disordered comments:

Literature review

The paper will benefit of clearer streamline about the arguments you address and a much clearer motivation. What is your contribution to the literature? Why this is important?

In the literature review, a mention to how context shape migration flows.

There are recent papers about this topic that will be helpful to revise. In particular also how this interrelates with socioeconomic context and regional development, please see:

• Cerqua et al (2022) https://rsaiconnect.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/pirs.12670
• Cefalo R, Scandurra R (2021) Territorial disparities in youth labour market chances in Europe. Regional Studies, Regional Science. Impact index (SJR) (2020): 0.58 Economics (Q2). Emerging Sources Citation Index. DOI: 10.1080/21681376.2021.192558
• Scandurra R, Cefalo R, Kazepov Y (2020) School-to-work outcomes during the Great Recession, is the regional scale relevant? Journal of Youth Studies. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2020.1742299

Moreover, you need to consider recent paper published about higher education access in Europe, please see:

• Scandurra R, Cefalo, R, Kazepov, Y (2021) Youth labour market integration: evolution and drivers in European regions, Social Indicators Research. Impact index (SCI/SSCI) (2020): 2.614. Economics (Q1). DOI: 10.1007/s11205-020-02549-8

  Hermannson K, Scandurra R, Graziano M (2019) Will the unequal regional distribution of tertiary education persist? The case of Europe in a period of rising participation, Regional Studies, Regional Science. Impact index (SJR) (2019): 0.58 Economics (Q2). Emerging Sources Citation Index. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21681376.2019.1680313

Operativization

The paper is very descriptive, but some statistical test may strengthen the results presented

Results section

This is a very schematic section and you do not engage with previous literature.

Discussion/Conclusion

The paper will benefit for a more contextualized discussion of the evidence.

What are the lessons to be learnt?

What are the limitations of the study?

Author Response

Dear Editor,

My co-authors and I thank you very much for your comments. Your comments have been of great help to us in improving the article. We have revised the text of the article. The text has been corrected in English. The wording has become more precise and reflects the concept of the study. The paragraph of the literature review in the introduction has been improved. The limitations of the study are presented after the item Materials and methods. In conclusion, the conclusions reflecting the intent of the article are briefly presented.

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors have chosen an interesting area to research. However, the writing style is very problematic as there are many instances of awkward sentence structure and obscure wording throughout. In the attached copy of the manuscript, I have highlighted some of the areas of concern on the first three pages. There are many instances of awkward, vague, and obscure writing style throughout the manuscript, however. There may be novel, publishable research here, but that is difficult to ascertain due the frequently obscure language. If the authors would like to publish their work, they would be well-served by investing in the services of a professional, English-language academic editor. As it stands, this manuscript is not acceptable for publication in its present form.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear Editor,

My co-authors and I thank you very much for your comments. Your comments have been of great help to us in improving the article. We have revised the text of the article. The text has been corrected in English. The wording has become more precise and reflects the concept of the study. The paragraph of the literature review in the introduction has been improved. The limitations of the study are presented after the item Materials and methods. In conclusion, the conclusions reflecting the intent of the article are briefly presented.

Reviewer 3 Report

The main question addressed by the research is  interesting.

The subject contributed by the authors in comparison to other publications and other published materials  provides the study of factors influencing the migration behavior of students. This article is based on theoretical and practical research in human capital, its formation, development, and migration as a factor in human capital development.

The conclusions are consistent with the evidence and arguments presented. The authors address the main question posed and  conclude that this study allows tracing how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the migration potential of students and their desire for a satisfying career path.

Author Response

Dear Editor,

My co-authors and I thank you very much for your comments. Thank you for your positive assessment of our research. However, I want to note that the article has undergone some changes towards improvement. The text has been corrected in English. The wording has become more precise and reflects the concept of the study. The paragraph of the literature review in the introduction has been finalized. The limitations of the study are presented after the item "Materials and methods". In conclusion, the conclusions reflecting the intent of the article are briefly presented.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

I write my comments below

There are few things that need to be improved before acceptance. First more critical engagement with human capital theory critics. See this paper for example

Blau & Duncan, 1967; Erikson & Goldthorpe, 1992; Breen & Karlson, 2014 
Scandurra & Calero 2017 and 2020 provide an account of direct and indirect effect of education on skills accumulation with PIAAC data

Another thing it could be acknowledged is the literature on brain drain, this is in fact very common for the case of Europe where brain drain is directed towards more well off territories.

Thanks

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for your comments. Your comments are valuable to my co-authors and me, as they allow us to improve the text and strengthen it from the point of view of its theoretical justification. We focused on the issues of PIAAC data and human capital theory. In the article, the text that has been added is highlighted in blue.

Reviewer 2 Report

I am satisfied with the revised manuscript.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for your comments. Your comments are valuable to my co-authors and me, as they allow us to improve the text and strengthen it from the point of view of its theoretical justification. In this revised version, we focused on the issues of PIAAC data and human capital theory. In the article, the text that has been added is highlighted in blue.