Liguria: declino o trasformazione? Un confronto con le altre regioni italiane / Liguria: economic decline or sectorial transformation? A comparison between Italian regions

Since the 1970s the Liguria region has undergone major changes. A slowdown in economic growth allied to a sharp drop in the region’s population has led to unequivocal economic decline. By drawing on appreciative theorising, Italian regional growth in the period under examination is characterised by three facts: first, four regions alternated as leaders for per capita income; second, the Liguria region has recorded a marked slowdown in economic growth; third, the same region has been hit by a severe decline in population. An explanation for the first (stylized) fact lies in differences existing in per capita income growth rates. The second and third (stylized) facts are, in our opinion, strictly interconnected. Focusing the analysis exclusively on per capita income growth (as in the empirical analysis of the convergence hypothesis) may distort comparison. In some regions (like Liguria and Piedmont) income grew (slowly), but population decreased. On the contrary, in the other Italian regions both income and population grew. Comparing separately income and population growth allows us to have a better perception of the thirty-year period of economic decline of the Liguria region. In conclusion, we suggest that, in a context of heavy structural change and sectorial transformations, the sharp population fall recorded inevitably discouraged immigration with negative effects on internal demand.