Few economic debates have lasted as long as the 160-year debate concerning the effects of Italian unification on the economies of Italy’s South and North. This column proposes a way to move the argument forward. The authors estimate the causal effects of unification on the agricultural share, literacy rates, and railway density in the South and the Centre-North using a rigorous counterfactual framework. Their findings challenge the idea that unification increased Italy’s North-South divide. In fact, neither region experienced widespread benefits from the unified state.

Napoleonic reforms, local administrative hierarchy, development

Abstract. There is a long-standing debate on the effect of Italian unification (1861) on the country’s dual development. We estimate the causal impact of u

Ukraine’s president finds himself squeezed between two big powers

Abstract. There is a long-standing debate on the effect of Italian unification (1861) on the country’s dual development. We estimate the causal impact of u

The Rivista di Storia Economica / Italian Review of Economic History (RSE/IREH) aims to promote fresh research on economic history covering a wide range of countries, periods, and methods. To this aim...

Pushing the Frontiers of Data, Measurement, and Outcomes will be held at the Department of Economics and Finance of the University of Rome Tor Vergata

The files (Stata 18) allow the replication of the results presented in Barone, G., Chilosi, D., Ciccarelli, C., de Blasio, G. (2024), The effects of Italy’s unification on its dual development: a synt...