Papers by Vittorio Daniele
The recent work by E. Felice, Perché il Sud è rimasto indietro, il Mulino, Bologna, 2013, is rath... more The recent work by E. Felice, Perché il Sud è rimasto indietro, il Mulino, Bologna, 2013, is rather a pamphlet than a book of economic history. In the present article, we discuss both the statistical series of regional GDP from 1871 until 2001 worked out by Felice (section 1), and the interpretation of the North-South disparity in the long term (section 2). In section 3 we contrast our approach to the Italian regional disparities with that by Felice. While, according to Felice, the Italian North-South divide depends on social and institutional factors, and, in particular, on the mistakes of the Southern ruling class in the past, in our view it is the consequence of the interplay of economic factors during the Italian industrialisation starting at the end of the Nineteenth century
The article deals with the long-term history of industry in Italy and is based on data on the lab... more The article deals with the long-term history of industry in Italy and is based on data on the labour force per province from population censuses. Particular attention is devoted to disparities in industrialisation between North and South. After the analysis of trends from 1871 until 2001, concentration and spread of industry, importance of the South-North disparity within national disparities among provinces, we test the role of the access to markets on the geographic spread of the Italian industry. Our results are that access to markets and geography played a main role in the formation of Italian inequalities during the phase of industrial development.
Early childhood represents a critical period for the formation of cognitive and non-cognitive ski... more Early childhood represents a critical period for the formation of cognitive and non-cognitive skills. These skills influence academic achievements of students and lead to diverse social and economic outcomes. It is widely recognized how investment in early childhood, and especially in helping disadvantaged children and families, has a high social rate of return. This paper reviews the literature on the theme, focusing on Italy. Data show how Italy is characterized by profound North-South disparities regarding childcare services, poverty incidence and students achievements. It is proposed that investments in childhood services and education, improving human capital formation, would have a positive effect on regional development.
European Urban and Regional Studies, 2021
In Italy, both at the regional and sub-regional levels, labour productivity and average wages are... more In Italy, both at the regional and sub-regional levels, labour productivity and average wages are strongly correlated. Overall, in industry and services, the gap (about 30%) in productivity between Southern and Central-Northern regions is almost offset by that in the average wage: unit labour costs are similar. Since, in Italy, in each sector, nominal wages are set through national collective agreements – and therefore are the same throughout the country – regional differences in wage per employee depend solely on the composition of the occupational structures. The small difference in the unit labour cost suggests that also the North–South disparity in labour productivity is largely due to the characteristics of the respective productive structures. Across Italian regions, average wages and price levels are positively correlated. Spatial price differentials mainly depend on the prices of services and housing. In turn, prices influence regional nominal productivity in sectors produci...
Rivista di storia economica, 2014
Learning and Individual Differences, 2013
The relationship between the conditions of health of the population and the average intelligence ... more The relationship between the conditions of health of the population and the average intelligence quotients (IQs) was examined in a sample of 138 countries. Health conditions were proxied by DALY rates for infectious and parasitic diseases, perinatal and maternal conditions, and nutritional deficiencies. Results show how the burden of considered diseasesand, particularly, of perinatal and maternalis strongly and negatively related to national IQs even when income, education, and temperature or latitude are controlled for. The effect of education on national IQs is significant, but lesser than that of health. The burden of disease is a strong predictor of international differences in average cognitive abilities. Investment in health in poor countries, and particularly in maternal and neonatal health, would have long-term economic returns by reducing international inequalities.
Journal of Development Studies, 2011
Are natural resources a "blessing" or a "curse" for human development? This paper attempts to ans... more Are natural resources a "blessing" or a "curse" for human development? This paper attempts to answer the question by distinguishing between a "dependence" on natural resources and an "abundance" of the same. Dependence is measured in terms of exports of metals and fuel, while resource abundance is calculated on the basis of the subsoil assets per sq. km. and per capita. Results show the existence of a negative correlation between metals and ore exports and human development, while subsoil assets measures are, rather, positively related. These effects are particularly significant in countries with a comparatively lower institutional quality. The cases of Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea, briefly examined, suggest, however, that the effects of natural resources on human and economic development can be very different, and strictly related to specific national political and institutional characteristics.
paolomalanima.it
... Censimento 31 dicembre 1871; e Vitali, Aspetti dello sviluppo econ-omico italiano alla luce d... more ... Censimento 31 dicembre 1871; e Vitali, Aspetti dello sviluppo econ-omico italiano alla luce della ricostruzione della popolazione attiva ... 21 Si vedano Federico, Ma l'agricoltura meridionale era davvero arretrata?, p. 321; Zama-gni Le radici agricole del dualismo italiano; Esposto ...
Citeseer
... by Mary Hegarty A , Madeleine Keehner A , Peter Khooshabeh A ... BibTeX | Add To MetaCart. @M... more ... by Mary Hegarty A , Madeleine Keehner A , Peter Khooshabeh A ... BibTeX | Add To MetaCart. @MISC{A_learningand, author = {Mary Hegarty A and Madeleine Keehner A and Peter Khooshabeh A and Daniel R. Montello B}, title = {Learning and Individual Differences}, year = {} }. ...
Investigaciones de Historia Económica - Economic History Research, 2013
Information on wages has never been exploited in the longlasting debate on North-South disparitie... more Information on wages has never been exploited in the longlasting debate on North-South disparities in Italy in the aftermath of the national Unification. The present article is based on a wide array of data on provincial wages in the building sector over the period 1862-1878. Nominal wages in the Centre-North and the South, including the Islands, were similar, because of the high wage levels in Sardinia and Sicily. In the peninsular South, nominal wages were about 10-15 percentage points lower than in the Centre-North. Yet, whenever the difference in prices is taken into account, any disparity between Centre-North and Mezzogiorno fades away.
Panoeconomicus
This article is aimed at analysing the trends of economic, social and institutional inequality am... more This article is aimed at analysing the trends of economic, social and institutional inequality among the Mediterranean countries in the period 1950- 2015. After the examination of the inequalities in GDP per capita among and within nations, we present a Human Development Index (HDI) that includes a measure of democratic achievements. Main result is that inequalities in income, after the rise from the 1950s onwards, declined from the start of the twenty-first century. Inequalities in HDI, instead, constantly diminished in the period under examination, while a process of democratization occurred. On the whole, despite the convergence among Mediterranean countries, economic inequalities are much deeper than those in social indicators.
The Journal of Development Studies
Investigaciones de Historia Económica
The impact of World War II on the nutrition and health of Italian children is examined. During th... more The impact of World War II on the nutrition and health of Italian children is examined. During the Second World War (1939-1945), both per capita GDP and consumption collapsed in Italy. Infant mortality increased. The anthropometric measurements of a sample of schoolchildren show a loss in weight and height in comparison with the prewar years. Measurements of conscripts born during the conflict show an interruption in the secular increase in height, with a decrease in the mean height of conscripts born in 1945. The adverse impact of the war on height, particularly affected the northern regions, and appears to be related to the 'geography of conflict' in Italy.
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Papers by Vittorio Daniele