IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/aub/uhewps/2012_04.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The roots of success: industrial growth in Italy reconsidered, 1911-1951

Author

Listed:
  • Emanuele Felice

    (Unitat d'Història Econòmica, Departament d'Economia i d'Història Econòmica, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

  • Albert Carreras

    (Departament d'Economia i Empresa, Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

Abstract

This article reconsiders the growth of Italian industry from the First World War to the eve of the economic miracle, with the aid of sector-specific new value-added series, at three different price-bases. The new estimates reduce growth during the First World War, making the Italian case comparable to the other belligerent countries, while improving the performance of the 1920s. The 1929 crisis looks more profound than before, while the recovery after 1933 is now stronger. During the 1920s and the 1930s, a significant shift from traditional to more advanced activities took place: when confronted with the rest of Europe, the interwar period was a relative success, which laid the ground for the following economic boom.

Suggested Citation

  • Emanuele Felice & Albert Carreras, 2012. "The roots of success: industrial growth in Italy reconsidered, 1911-1951," UHE Working papers 2012_04, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Departament d'Economia i Història Econòmica, Unitat d'Història Econòmica.
    • Handle: RePEc:aub:uhewps:2012_04
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/worpap/2012/hdl_2072_213661/uhe2012_04.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ritschl, Albrecht, 2004. "Spurious growth in German output data, 1913—1938," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(2), pages 201-223, August.
    2. Williamson, Jeffrey G., 2011. "Industrial Catching Up in the Poor Periphery 1870-1975," CEPR Discussion Papers 8335, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Paolo Malanima, 2006. "Alle origini della crescita in Italia 1820-1913," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 307-330.
    4. Broadberry,Stephen & Harrison,Mark (ed.), 2005. "The Economics of World War I," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521852128, Enero-Abr.
    5. Giovanni Federico & Michelangelo Vasta, 2009. "Was industrialization an escape from the commodity lottery? Evidence from Italy, 1861-1940," Department of Economics University of Siena 573, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    6. Federico, Giovanni & Vasta, Michelangelo, 2010. "Was industrialization an escape from the commodity lottery? Evidence from Italy, 1861-1939," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 228-243, April.
    7. Barbara Pistoresi & Alberto Rinaldi, 2011. "Exports and Italy’s economic development: a long-run perspective (1863-2004)," Center for Economic Research (RECent) 061, University of Modena and Reggio E., Dept. of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    8. Anonymous, 1955. "Organization for European Economic Cooperation," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 304-305, May.
    9. Anonymous, 1955. "Organization for European Economic Cooperation," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(4), pages 578-583, November.
    10. Albert Carreras & Emanuele Felice, 2010. "L'industria italiana dal 1911 al 1938: ricostruzione della serie del valore aggiunto e interpretazioni," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 285-334.
    11. Prados de la Escosura, Leandro, 2000. "International Comparisons of Real Product, 1820-1990: An Alternative Data Set," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 1-41, January.
    12. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 1969. "Public Policy and Italian Industrial Development, 1861–1913," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 29(1), pages 176-179, March.
    13. Tattara, Giuseppe & Toniolo, Giovanni, 1976. "L'industria manifatturiera: cicli, politiche e mutamenti di struttura (1921-1937) [Manufacturing in Italy: business cycle, politics, structural change (1921-1937)]," MPRA Paper 39090, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Mattesini, Fabrizio & Quintieri, Beniamino, 1997. "Italy and the Great Depression: An Analysis of the Italian Economy, 1929-1936," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 265-294, July.
    15. Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2011. "Industrial Catching Up in the Poor Periphery 1870-1975," NBER Working Papers 16809, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    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. Felice, Emanuele & Vecchi, Giovanni, 2015. "Italy’s Modern Economic Growth, 1861–2011," Enterprise & Society, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 225-248, June.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Emanuele Felice & Giovanni Vecchi, 2013. "Italy’s Growth and Decline, 1861-2011," CEIS Research Paper 293, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 11 Oct 2013.
    4. Giordano, Claire & Giugliano, Ferdinando, 2015. "A tale of two Fascisms: Labour productivity growth and competition policy in Italy, 1911–1951," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 25-38.
    5. repec:dgr:rugggd:gd-90 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Fremdling, Rainer & Jong, Herman de & Timmer, Marcel P., 2007. "Censuses compared. A New Benchmark for British and German Manufacturing 1935/1936," GGDC Research Memorandum GD-90, Groningen Growth and Development Centre, University of Groningen.
    7. Agustín S. Bénétrix & Kevin H. O’Rourke & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2012. "The Spread of Manufacturing to the Periphery 1870-2007: Eight Stylized Facts," Working Papers 0021, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    8. 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.
    9. Cristián Ducoing & José Peres-Cajías & Marc Badia-Miró & Ann-Kristin Bergquist & Carlos Contreras & Kristin Ranestad & Sara Torregrosa, 2018. "Natural Resources Curse in the Long Run? Bolivia, Chile and Peru in the Nordic Countries’ Mirror," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-25, March.
    10. Veenstra, Joost, 2015. "Output growth in German manufacturing, 1907–1936. A reinterpretation of time-series evidence," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 38-49.
    11. Albert Carreras & Camilla Josephson, 2009. "Growing at the production frontier. European aggregate growth, 1870-1914," Economics Working Papers 1179, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    12. Jose Peres Cajias & Marc Badia-Miro & Anna Carreras-Marin, 2012. "Intraregional trade in South America, 1913-50. Economic linkages before institutional agreements," Working Papers in Economics 270, Universitat de Barcelona. Espai de Recerca en Economia.
    13. Pistoresi, Barbara & Rinaldi, Alberto, 2012. "Exports, imports and growth," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 241-254.
    14. Cristiano Antonelli & Nicola Crepax & Claudio Fassio, 2013. "The cliometrics of academic chairs. Scientific knowledge and economic growth: the evidence across the Italian Regions 1900–1959," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 38(5), pages 537-564, October.
    15. Marc Badia-Miró & Cristián A. Ducoing, 2014. "The long run development of Chile and the Natural Resources curse. Linkages, policy and growth, 1850-1950," UB Economics Working Papers 2014/318, Universitat de Barcelona, Facultat d'Economia i Empresa, UB Economics.
    16. 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.
    17. Hardach, Gerd, 2017. "Sparen in der "Nullzinsphase". Privatanleger und der Kapitalmarkt in Deutschland im Ersten Weltkrieg," IBF Paper Series 02-17, IBF – Institut für Bank- und Finanzgeschichte / Institute for Banking and Financial History, Frankfurt am Main.
    18. Broadberry, Stephen & Burhop, Carsten, 2008. "Resolving the Anglo-German Industrial Productivity Puzzle, 1895–1935: A Response to Professor Ritschl," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(3), pages 930-934, September.
    19. Mark Harrison & Nikolaus Wolf, 2014. "The Frequency of Wars," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: THE ECONOMICS OF COERCION AND CONFLICT, chapter 5, pages 121-149, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    20. Guillermo Lezama & Henry Willebald, 2020. "Inequality in Pre‐Income Survey Times: A Methodological Proposal," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(4), pages 931-957, December.
    21. Dimitris Mavridis & Pálma Mosberger, 2017. "Income Inequality and Incentives. The Quasi-Natural Experiment of Hungary 1914-2008," Working Papers halshs-02797438, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Italy; industry; national accounts; world war I; 1929 crisis; world war II;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N14 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N64 - Economic History - - Manufacturing and Construction - - - Europe: 1913-
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

    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:aub:uhewps:2012_04. 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: Jesus Ramos-Martin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/heuabes.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.