Napoleonic Administrative Reforms and Development in the Italian Mezzogiorno

Giulio Cainelli (), Carlo Ciccarelli () and Roberto Ganau ()
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Giulio Cainelli: Department of Economics and Management "Marco Fanno", University of Padua
Roberto Ganau: Department of Economics and Management "Marco Fanno", University of Padua, and Department of Geography and Environment, LSE

No 54, Quaderni di storia economica (Economic History Working Papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area

Abstract: We study how changes in the administrative hierarchy of a country affect development at the city level. We use the 1806 Napoleonic administrative reform implemented in the Kingdom of Naples as a historical experiment to assess whether district capitals with supra-municipal administrative functions enjoyed an urban development premium compared with non-capital cities. We find that district capitals recorded a population growth premium throughout the 19th century (1828–1911) and experienced higher industrialization than non-capital cities, both before and after the Italian unification. We explain our findings through mechanisms relating to public goods provision and transport network accessibility.

Keywords: Napoleonic reforms; local administrative hierarchy; development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H11 N13 O11 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-gro and nep-his
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