Abstract
Globalization can create winners and losers not only among workers, but also among regions within national economies. This paper examines the economic impact of the First Globalization on local economies in the case of nineteenth century Italy. We combine data on foreign trade at the sectoral level, census data on manufacturing provincial employment, and our new estimates of agricultural employment by crop at the provincial level. Crossing these information, we compute two local trade exposure measures, namely import penetration and export ratio, according to the sectoral specialization of each province. We then perform a panel analysis to test whether trade openness had an impact on the GDP growth of provinces. Preliminary results suggest that between 1871 and 1911, trade exposure was positively associated to growth in Northern provinces, but negatively associated to growth in the South. This different effect of trade suggests that trade could be a factor widening the notorious North-South gap. Further research will be necessary to identify the reasons for this different impact.
Keywords: First Globalization, International Trade, Regional Development, Italian Economic History.
Invited by: Patrizia Battilani
Local Organizer: Alessandro Tavoni