Recent literature about the U.S. shows that wage dynamics covaries more with job-to-job flows than with unemployment-to-employment transitions. In this paper we try to address whether this explanation is valid also for other countries characterized by a different institutional setting and a different economic structure, namely France and Italy. Using comparable administrative data we find that in both France and Italy realized job-to-job transitions are pro-cyclical and positively contribute to explain wage growth. We also find that outside opportunities affect the wage growth of workers who remain in the same job. Differently from the U.S., however, unemployment still explains a sizable part of wage dynamics. job-to-job flows and gains from moving are more relevant for workers in high-skilled occupations, for permanent workers and in sectors with higher wage variability. We then conclude that the relevance of job-to-job flows for wage dynamics depends also by the structural characteristics of each
economy.