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The ripples of the industrial revolution: exports, economic growth, and regional integration in Italy in the early nineteenth century

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  • Giovanni Federico
  • Antonio Tena-Junguito

Abstract

The conventional wisdom about the early stages of modern economic growth in Italy is still heavily influenced by Cafagna in his book Dualismo e sviluppo nella storia d'Italia (Padova: Marsilio 1989). He argued that the exports of primary products to industrializing North-Western countries were the main source of growth and that exports of silk stimulated the industrialization of the North-West (the "industrial triangle"). However, the benefits did not extend to the rest of the country. In this paper, we argue that this view is not supported by the trade data. Italian exports grew slowly relative to European and world trade, and exports from the North grew less than the total. This view tallies well with some recent estimates of GDP per capita, which show no increase before the Unification of Italy (1861).

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  • Giovanni Federico & Antonio Tena-Junguito, 2014. "The ripples of the industrial revolution: exports, economic growth, and regional integration in Italy in the early nineteenth century," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 18(3), pages 349-369.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ereveh:v:18:y:2014:i:3:p:349-369.
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    3. Maria Carmela Schisani & Luigi Balletta & Giancarlo Ragozini, 2021. "Crowding out the change: business networks and persisting economic elites in the South of Italy over Unification (1840–1880)," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 15(1), pages 89-131, January.
    4. Emanuele Felice, 2015. "La stima e l?interpretazione dei divari regionali nel lungo periodo: i risultati principali e alcune tracce di ricerca," SCIENZE REGIONALI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(3), pages 91-120.
    5. David Chilosi & Carlo Ciccarelli, 2022. "Evolving gaps: Occupational structure in southern and northern Italy, 1400–1861," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(4), pages 1349-1378, November.
    6. Roger Vicquéry, 2021. "The Common Currency Effect on International Trade: Evidence from an Accidental Monetary Union," Working papers 856, Banque de France.
    7. Giulio Cainelli & Carlo Ciccarelli & Roberto Ganau, 2021. "Administrative reforms, urban hierarchy, and local population growth. Lessons from Italian unification," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2109, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Feb 2021.
    8. Chilosi, David & Ciccarelli, Carlo, 2023. "Italy in the great divergence: what can we learn from Engel’s law?," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 667, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    9. Emanuele Felice, 2017. "The socio-institutional divide. Explaining Italy's regional inequality over the long run," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 503, Collegio Carlo Alberto.

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