2018/06/01 by Emanuele Felice · 74 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Demography #Development economics #Economic Growth and Productivity #Economic geography #Economic growth #Economics #Geography #Historical Economic and Social Studies #Human capital #Index (typography) #Inequality #Italy: Economic History and Contemporary Issues #Life expectancy #Population #Social capital #Social science #Sociology #Unification
paper · doi:10.1162/jinh_a_01231
published in The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 49(1), 43-70 (The MIT Press)
openalex publication_date 2018/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
The recent availability of more accurate estimates of regional gdp, of social indicators (human capital, life expectancy, the human development index [hdi], heights, inequality, and social capital), and of other indices (such as market potential) has helped to advance the study of the growth patterns within Italian regions from (approximately) unification to the present day. This up-to-date information provides the basis for a new explanation of Italy’s industrial expansion and economic growth: The North–South socio-institutional divide that existed in Italy before unification in some respects grew stronger after unification, never to be bridged. This geographical division ultimately carried differences in human and social capital, governmental policies, and various institutions that exerted considerable influence on the regional structure of Italy’s economic growth.