Infrastrutture e sviluppo. Premesse per un’analisi del settore turistico in Sicilia

The identification of a meaningful correlation between production and infrastructure is not a easy task. This is true for two different reasons: first because data on core infrastructure is very much aggregated both with respect to the spatial distribution and with respect to the various kind of infrastructure; secondly, because in the identification process other variables play a significant role. For example, there are infrastructure which results from an increase in income (rather than cause income to increase). Similarly, one should also take into account that technological innovation produces substantial effects on income or that positive effects or income stem from a high degree utilisation of existing infrastructure rather than from the creation of new infrastructure. In a local economy co-variation problems are particularly serious: witness the strong influence local policies exert on specific sets of infrastructure. As well as considering this set of problems the paper will deal with that specific kind of infrastructure which shows a high degree of consistence with the path of local development, both in its nature and in its localization. It will be emphasized that the productivity of this kind of infrastructure depends on how close is the integration with core infrastructure, on policy maker’ perception of the prospect of development of the various branches of the local economy, on the centralization of the local development plan. In evaluating the empirical evidence for Italy, it appears that the low productivity of public capital in the Southern Italy could be due to a lack of governance and to a limited availability of specific infrastructure. This paper is also an analytical preliminary description for an empirical research on tourism in Sicily.