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Il costo della vita al Nord e al Sud d'Italia dal dopoguerra a oggi. Stime di prima generazione

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  • Amendola, Nicola
  • Vecchi, Giovanni
  • Al Kiswani, Bilal

Abstract

Despite the fact that in 2011 Italy will celebrate the 150th anniversary of its political unification, geographical disparities stand out as a prominent characteristic of the country. The paper estimates the trend of the cost-of-living differentials across regions in the half-century after the Second World War. We find that the North-South gap has steadily increased, from 10 percent in 1951 to almost 20 percent in recent years. The divergence in prices highlights the delay, possibly the failure, of Italy’s economic integration. Its cost, in terms of both foregone economic growth and distributive equity, is borne by the entire Italian society.

Suggested Citation

  • Amendola, Nicola & Vecchi, Giovanni & Al Kiswani, Bilal, 2010. "Il costo della vita al Nord e al Sud d'Italia dal dopoguerra a oggi. Stime di prima generazione," MPRA Paper 23486, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:23486
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    1. Carlo Declich & Veronica Polin, 2005. "Povertà assoluta e costo della vita: un'analisi empirica sulle famiglie italiane," Politica economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 265-306.
    2. Albert Alesina & Stephan Danninger & Massimo Rostagno, 2001. "Redistribution Through Public Employment: The Case of Italy," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 48(3), pages 1-2.
    3. László Drechsler, 1973. "Weighting Of Index Numbers In Multilateral International Comparisons," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 19(1), pages 17-34, March.
    4. Bela Balassa, 1964. "The Purchasing-Power Parity Doctrine: A Reappraisal," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72, pages 584-584.
    5. Riccardo Massari & M. Grazia Pittau & Roberto Zelli, 2010. "Does regional cost-of-living reshuffle Italian income distribution?," Working Papers 166, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    6. Manuela Nenna, 2002. "Deviations from Purchasing Power Parity: Any Role for the Harrod-Balassa-Samuelson Hypothesis?," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, vol. 92(4), pages 167-196, July-Augu.
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    Cited by:

    1. Francesco Devicienti & Valentina Gualtieri & Mariacristina Rossi, 2014. "The Persistence Of Income Poverty And Lifestyle Deprivation: Evidence From Italy," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(3), pages 246-278, July.
    2. Matthew Melchiorre & Emilio Rocca, 2013. "The Unintended Consequences of Italy's Labour Laws: How Extensive Labour Regulation Distorts the Italian Economy," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 156-173, June.
    3. Menon, Martina & Perali, Federico & Ray, Ranjan & Tommasi, Nicola, 2023. "Heterogeneity in prices and cost of living within a country: New evidence on the north-south divide in Italy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    4. Erich BATTISTIN & Sascha O. BECKER & Luca Nunziata, 2022. "More choice for men? Marriage patterns after World War II in Italy," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 88(3), pages 447-472, September.
    5. Emanuele Felice & Michelangelo Vasta, 2015. "Passive modernization? The new human development index and its components in Italy's regions (1871–2007)," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 19(1), pages 44-66.
    6. G. D'Alessio, 2018. "Well-being, the Socio-economic Context and Price Differences: the North-South Gap," Rivista economica del Mezzogiorno, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 471-498.
    7. Martina Menon & Federico Perali & Ranjan Ray & Nicola Tommasi, 2019. "The Tale of the Two Italies: Regional Price Parities Accounting for Differences in the Quality of Services," Working Papers 20/2019, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    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. Antonio Accetturo & Sauro Mocetti, 2019. "Historical Origins and Developments of Italian Cities," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 5(2), pages 205-222, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    purchasing power parity; cost-of-living index; living standard; Balassa-Samuelson effect; economic integration.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • N94 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N14 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: 1913-

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