Brain drain e agevolazioni alle imprese che investono in ricerca e sviluppo nell’ordinamento giuridico italiano

In recent years, the press, newspapers and academic articles have reported the hardship of many Italian graduates forced to work abroad. The Covid-19 pandemic has contributed to implementing this state of affairs, giving rise to a debate on the relationship between settlement forms and the spread of the contagion that has resurrected a karst theme in Italian public debate: that of the gap between Italy and abroad. Some believe that the absence of financial support and incentives to support research is to blame for this situation. However, the situation of the Italian research sector, which still employs a very small fraction of Italian graduates, is not the only factor driving “Italian brains” to emigrate or stay abroad after studying at foreign universities. Despite widespread anecdotal evidence of brain drain from Italy, a statistical survey to quantify the phenomenon is imperative. To date, the absence of a complete picture of information, precludes identifying the size of this “flight” and its actual trend in recent years, making the use of the parameter of the competitiveness of territories, the result of their commodification, inadequate to give way to an alternative approach based on their desirability, a concept that is more difficult to define but which takes into account all the different aspects (and not only the economic ones) that drive people to choose the place where they live. To halt the “brain drain,” tax incentives have been introduced for companies that hire researchers, PhDs and academics. This paper analyzes the tax credit for research and development activities, initially introduced by Article 3 of Decree Law No. 145 of Dec. 23, 2013, made operational with the issuance of the interministerial decree of May 27, 2015, but innovated by the Budget Law of 2023. The new tax credit for research and development activities is undoubtedly to be welcomed by companies, although, as we shall see, it is affected by some critical issues that could lead to an inefficient application of the benefit.