IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rsc/rsceui/2008-08.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Interest Groups, Government Spending and Italian Industrial Growth (1876-1913)

Author

Listed:
  • Nadia Fiorino
  • Roberto Ricciuti

Abstract

In the last two decades of the XIX century the Italian model of economic growth shifted from agricultural to industrial. Historians maintain that this process was affected by the action of some interest groups that pursued both state protection from competition and specific public expenditure programs. Starting from the economic literature of interest groups, this paper attempts to empirically investigate the role of the interest groups in public expenditure decisions in Italy from 1876 to 1913. We argue that a proper indicator of the role of interest groups is their output. The analysis suggests that government spending was sensitive to the preferences of heavy industry rather then those of textile and cereal cultivators. We therefore highlight the role of the political process in setting economic policy at the early stages of the Italian development.

Suggested Citation

  • Nadia Fiorino & Roberto Ricciuti, 2008. "Interest Groups, Government Spending and Italian Industrial Growth (1876-1913)," RSCAS Working Papers 2008/08, European University Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2008/08
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://cadmus.eui.eu/dspace/bitstream/1814/8222/1/RSCAS_2008_08.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guttman, Joel M, 1978. "Interest Groups and the Demand for Agricultural Research," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(3), pages 467-484, June.
    2. Harold Demsetz, 1979. "The Growth of Government," UCLA Economics Working Papers 157, UCLA Department of Economics.
    3. Michele Fratianni & Franco Spinelli, 1982. "The growth of government in Italy: Evidence from 1861 to 1979," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 221-243, January.
    4. John McCallum & André Blais, 1987. "Government, special interest groups, and economic growth," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 3-18, January.
    5. 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.
    6. Potters, Jan & Sloof, Randolph, 1996. "Interest groups: A survey of empirical models that try to assess their influence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 403-442, November.
    7. Aidt, T.S. & Dutta, Jayasri & Loukoianova, Elena, 2006. "Democracy comes to Europe: Franchise extension and fiscal outcomes 1830-1938," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 249-283, February.
    8. Mark Thornton & Marc Ulrich, 1999. "Constituency Size and Government Spending," Public Finance Review, , vol. 27(6), pages 588-598, November.
    9. Giorgio Brosio & Carla Marchese, 1988. "The Growth of Government under Different Redistributive Rules: A Long Term Study of the Italian Case," Public Finance Review, , vol. 16(4), pages 439-463, October.
    10. Gardner, Bruce L, 1987. "Causes of U.S. Farm Commodity Programs," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(2), pages 290-310, April.
    11. Rebecca Morton & Charles Cameron, 1992. "Elections And The Theory Of Campaign Contributions: A Survey And Critical Analysis," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(1), pages 79-108, March.
    12. Federico, Giovanni & Tena Junguito, Antonio, 1998. "Did trade policy foster Italian industrialization evidences from the effective production rates 1870-1930," IFCS - Working Papers in Economic History.WH wh985504, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto Figuerola.
    13. van Winden, Frans, 1999. "On the Economic Theory of Interest Groups: Towards a Group Frame of Reference in Political Economics," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 100(1-2), pages 1-29, July.
    14. Federico, Giovanni & Tena, Antonio, 1998. "Was Italy a protectionist country?," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(1), pages 73-97, April.
    15. 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.
    16. Federico, G. & O'Rourke, K.H., 1999. "Much Ado About Nothing? Italian Trade Policy in the late 19th Century," Papers 99/18, College Dublin, Department of Political Economy-.
    17. Meltzer, Allan H & Richard, Scott F, 1981. "A Rational Theory of the Size of Government," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 914-927, October.
    18. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Galli, Emma & Ricciuti, Roberto, 2009. "Sulla political economy del deficit pubblico nell'Italia liberale," POLIS Working Papers 127, Institute of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS.
    2. Michael McLure, 2010. "Pareto's 'Chronicles' in Relation to his Sociology," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 439-458.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nadia Fiorino & Roberto Ricciuti, 2009. "Interest Groups and Government Spending in Italy, 1876-1913," CESifo Working Paper Series 2722, CESifo.
    2. Michelangelo Vasta, 2009. "Italian export capacity in the long run perspective (1861-2009): a tortuous path to keep the position," Department of Economics University of Siena 572, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    3. Mazza, Isidoro & van Winden, Frans, 2008. "An endogenous policy model of hierarchical government," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 133-149, January.
    4. Emanuele Felice, 2013. "Regional income inequality in Italy in the long run (1871–2001). Patterns and determinants," UHE Working papers 2013_08, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Departament d'Economia i Història Econòmica, Unitat d'Història Econòmica.
    5. Eliste, Paavo & Fredriksson, Per G., 2002. "Environmental Regulations, Transfers, and Trade: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 234-250, March.
    6. 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.
    7. Emanuele Felice & Josep Pujol Andreu, 2013. "GDP and life expectancy in Italy and Spain over the long-run (1861-2008): insights from a time-series approach," UHE Working papers 2013_06, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Departament d'Economia i Història Econòmica, Unitat d'Història Econòmica.
    8. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2020. "Reconstructing The Past: Italy's Historical National Accounts, 1861-1913," MPRA Paper 98350, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Ciccarelli, Carlo & Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2007. "Business fluctuations in Italy, 1861-1913: The new evidence," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 432-451, July.
    10. Potters, Jan & Sloof, Randolph, 1996. "Interest groups: A survey of empirical models that try to assess their influence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 403-442, November.
    11. Felice, Emanuele & Carreras, Albert, 2012. "When did modernization begin? Italy's industrial growth reconsidered in light of new value-added series, 1911–1951," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 443-460.
    12. Pistoresi, Barbara & Rinaldi, Alberto, 2012. "Exports, imports and growth," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 241-254.
    13. Emanuele Felice, 2019. "Rethinking the take-off: the role of services in the new economic history of Italy (1861–1951)," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 13(3), pages 405-442, September.
    14. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2020. "Reconstructing The Past: The New Production-Side Estimates For Italy, 1861–1913," MPRA Paper 99307, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Marina Dodlova & Anna Gioblas, 2017. "Regime type, inequality, and redistributive transfers in developing countries," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-30, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    16. Birdsall, Nancy & James, Estelle, 1992. "Health, government, and the poor : the case for the private sector," Policy Research Working Paper Series 938, The World Bank.
    17. Aidt, Toke S. & Mooney, Graham, 2014. "Voting suffrage and the political budget cycle: Evidence from the London Metropolitan Boroughs 1902–1937," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 53-71.
    18. Fredriksson, Per G. & Vollebergh, Herman R. J. & Dijkgraaf, Elbert, 2004. "Corruption and energy efficiency in OECD countries: theory and evidence," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 207-231, March.
    19. Dennis Mueller & Peter Murrell, 1986. "Interest groups and the size of government," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 125-145, January.
    20. Tena Junguito, Antonio, 2008. "Bairoch revisited : tariff structure and growth in the late 19th century," IFCS - Working Papers in Economic History.WH wp08-04, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto Figuerola.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    industrialization; special interests groups; public expenditure; Italian economic history.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2008/08. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: RSCAS web unit (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rsiueit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.