Resistance to Institutions and Cultural Distance: Brigandage in Post-Unification Italy

Giampaolo Lecce, Laura Ogliari and Tommaso Orlando
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Laura Ogliari: Bocconi University

No 2097, Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers from Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University

Abstract: We study how cultural distance affects the rejection of imposed institutions. To this purpose, we exploit the transplantation of Piedmontese institutions on Southern Italy which occurred during the Italian unification. We assemble a novel and unique dataset containing information on episodes of brigandage, a form of violent uprising against the unitary government, at the municipal level. We use geographic distance from local settlements of Piedmontese descent as a proxy for cultural distance between each municipality and the new rulers. We find robust evidence that cultural distance from the origins of the transplanted institutions is significantly associated with more intense resistance to these institutions. Our results further suggest that the rejection of the transplanted institutions may have a long lasting effect on political participation.

Keywords: Institutions; Institutional Transplantations; Culture; Social Unrest; Electoral Turnout (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D74 N43 P16 Z10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 54 pages
Date: 2017-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-cul, nep-gro, nep-his, nep-soc and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Resistance to Institutions and Cultural Distance: Brigandage in Post-Unification Italy (2021)
Working Paper: Resistance to Institutions and Cultural Distance: Brigandage in Post-Unification Italy (2017)
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