La ricostruzione dei consumi pubblici nel campo dell'istruzione nell’Italia liberale: 1861-1913

General government activity in the field of education has recently assumed new interest due to the importance of two analytical objectives: a) the existence of substitution or complementary processes between public and private expenditure in education; b) the importance of public expenditure in the fields of education, health etc. in economic development. Between 1861 and 1913, statistical information regarding Italian expenditure in education at local (provincial and municipal) level is particularly scarce and there is none at all on expenditure at local level for a number of periods. The reconstruction of missing data for regressors has been carried out by NIPALS algorithm (Non-linear estimation by Iterative PArtial Least Square) which calculates Principal Component Analysis (PCA) even when there are missing data. The reconstructed data have allowed improvement of the informative set and the lines of interpretation of General Government action in education. Our data confirm the idea that policies regarding education in Italy have relied predominantly on local resources at municipal level. Furthermore, transfers from Central Government to the municipal authorities assumed great importance after 1904. Finally, it is to be noted that Central government expenditure on education in a strict sense (excluded expenses for museums, academies etc.) has been stable until 1904. Truly incisive policies regarding Central government are to be found only in successive periods.