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The innovation--trade nexus: Italy in historical perspective (1861--1939)

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  • Giacomo Domini

Abstract

This work investigates the relationship between trade and technological specialisation in Italy, during the long time span ranging from Unification to the eve of the Second World War. To do this, new series of Italy’s indices of specialisation in trade and technology are calculated based on official data. Empirical analysis, based on Spearman rank correlation coefficients and fixed-effects regression, shows the emergence of a positive relationship between specialisation in technology and specialisation in trade after the start of the country’s modern economic growth, around the turn of the twentieth century. This, however, was uniquely driven by a negative relationship between technological specialisation and import shares, while no significant relationship between the former and export shares emerges. Furthermore, this finding excludes the most important sector, leading Italian industrialisation, that is, textiles, the outstanding performance of which can be seen as largely determined by its being particularly suited to the country’s factor endowment.

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  • Giacomo Domini, 2016. "The innovation--trade nexus: Italy in historical perspective (1861--1939)," Scandinavian Economic History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 64(2), pages 138-159, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:sehrxx:v:64:y:2016:i:2:p:138-159
    DOI: 10.1080/03585522.2016.1181565
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Zamagni, Vera, 1997. "The Economic History of Italy 1860-1990," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198292890, Decembrie.
    2. Giovanni Dosi & Keith Pavitt & Luc Soete, 1990. "The Economics of Technical Change and International Trade," LEM Book Series, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy, number dosietal-1990.
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    1. Domini, Giacomo, 2022. "Patterns of specialization and economic complexity through the lens of universal exhibitions, 1855-1900," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).

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