I develop a model of university enrollment and job search that helps to understand the differences between the two countries. For Italy, I identify two main groups of dropouts.
Misguided students are ill-prepared to obtain an academic degree.
Parking lot students drop out as soon as they get the first suitable job offer but obtain a degree in case they never get a job offer throughout their studies. In Germany, only misguided dropouts exist, and there are fewer of them than in Italy.