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Reconstructing The Past: Italy's Historical National Accounts, 1861-1913

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  • Fenoaltea, Stefano

Abstract

This paper summarizes the evolution of Italy’s historical national accounts, and presents an updated reconstruction of the production side, the expenditure side, and the composition of investment from Unification to the Great War. On the production side, the major improvements stem from the recovery of evidence on harvest fluctuations, which increases short-term volatility, and the removal of gross errors in the estimates for the services, which sharply reduces pre-War GDP. The expenditure-side disaggregation reaffirms the Kuznets- cycle path of fixed investment; the cut in GDP yields a cut in consumption, but does not imply a lower standard of living.

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  • Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2020. "Reconstructing The Past: Italy's Historical National Accounts, 1861-1913," MPRA Paper 98350, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:98350
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/98350/1/MPRA_paper_98350.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Toniolo, Gianni (ed.), 2013. "The Oxford Handbook of the Italian Economy Since Unification," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199936694.
    2. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2018. "The Growth of the Italian Economy, 1861−1913: The Composition Of Investment," MPRA Paper 88138, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2003. "Notes on the Rate of Industrial Growth in Italy, 1861–1913," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 63(3), pages 695-735, September.
    4. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2016. "Fenoaltea on Industrial Employment in 1911: A Rejoinder," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 113-118.
    5. Giovanni Federico, 2003. "Le nuove stime della produzione agricola italiana, 1860-1910: primi risultati e implicazioni," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 359-382.
    6. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2019. "Italian Industrial Production, 1861-1913: a Statistical Reconstruction. H. The Textile, Apparel, and Leather Industries," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 583, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    7. Piero Bolchini & Pierluigi Ciocca & Marcello de Cecco & Giovanni Federico & Giuseppe Tattara & Gianni Toniolo & Vera Zamagni, 2006. "A proposito di Stefano Fenoaltea, L'economia italiana dall'Unità alla Grande Guerra (Bari-Roma, 2006). Interventi di:," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 331-331.
    8. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2018. "The Growth of the Italian Economy, 1861-1913: Revised Second-Generation Expenditure-Side Estimates," MPRA Paper 88016, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Federico, Giovanni, 2003. "Heights, calories and welfare: a new perspective on Italian industrialization, 1854-1913," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 289-308, December.
    10. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 1982. "The Growth of the Utilities Industries in Italy, 1861–1913," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 601-627, September.
    11. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 1988. "International resource flows and construction movements in the atlantic economy: the kuznets cycle in Italy, 1861–1913," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(3), pages 605-637, September.
    12. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2020. "Reconstructing The Past: The Measurement Of Aggregate Product," MPRA Paper 97042, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2015. "Italian Industrial Production, 1861-1913: A Statistical Reconstruction. A. Introduction," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 412, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    14. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2017. "The Growth of the Italian Economy, 1861-1913: Revised Second-Generation Production-Side Estimates," MPRA Paper 83508, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Vera Zamagni, 2016. "Fenoaltea on Industrial Employment in 1911: A Reply," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 109-112.
    16. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2010. "The reconstruction of historical national accounts: the case of Italy," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 63(252), pages 77-96.
    17. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2005. "The growth of the Italian economy, 1861–1913: Preliminary second-generation estimates," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 273-312, December.
    18. Stefano Fenoaltea, 1976. "Real Value Added and the Measurement of Industrial Production," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 1, pages 111-137, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Roberto Pezzuto, 2017. "The Age Distribution of the Labour Force as Evidence of Prior Events: The Italian Data for 1911 and the Long Swing in Investment from Unification to the Great War," Quaderni di storia economica (Economic History Working Papers) 42, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
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    1. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2020. "Reconstructing The Past: The New Production-Side Estimates For Italy, 1861–1913," MPRA Paper 99307, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2020. "Reconstructing the Past: The New Expenditure-Side and Composition-Of-Investment Estimates for Italy, 1861–1913," MPRA Paper 99432, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Italy; Production; Measurement; Historical National Accounts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General
    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • N01 - Economic History - - General - - - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods

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