Southern and Northern Italy in the Great Divergence: New Perspectives from the Occupational Structure

David Chilosi and Carlo Ciccarelli ()

No 47, Quaderni di storia economica (Economic History Working Papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area

Abstract: Structural transformation is a key indicator of economic development. This paper reconstructs and examines spatial patterns of the occupational structure in pre-unification Italy, combining direct observations and urbanization rates. In 1861, the agricultural labour share was higher in Southern Italy than in the Centre and North. During the Risorgimento, provincial wages converged within the Centre-North. The predicted Centre-North/South GDP per capita ratio declined in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as the Centre-North stagnated and the South grew slowly. Southern Italy forged ahead of China after, and fell behind Britain before, the Centre-North did, but by pre-modern standards it nonetheless emerged as a middle-high income area.

Keywords: occupational structure; economic growth; regional inequality; Italy: pre-1861 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E01 N13 N93 O47 R12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-his and nep-mac
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bdi:workqs:qse_47

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