A Comparative Perspective on Italy's Human Capital Accumulation

57 Pages Posted: 16 Mar 2013

See all articles by Giuseppe Bertola

Giuseppe Bertola

University of Turin - Department of Economics

Paolo Sestito

Bank of Italy

Date Written: October 2011

Abstract

This paper reviews the evolution of educational institutions and outcomes over the 150 years since Italy's unification, and discusses their interaction with national and regional growth patterns. While initial educational conditions contributed to differentiate across regions the early industrial take off in the late 19th century, and formal education does not appear to have played a major role in the postwar economic boom, the slowdown of Italy's economy since the 1990s may be partly due to interactions between its traditionally low human capital intensity and new comparative advantage patterns, and to the deterioration since the 1970s of the educational system's organization.

Keywords: education systems, tracking, economic growth, regional convergence

JEL Classification: N30

Suggested Citation

Bertola, Giuseppe and Sestito, Paolo, A Comparative Perspective on Italy's Human Capital Accumulation (October 2011). Bank of Italy Economic History Working Paper No. 6, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2233837 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2233837

Giuseppe Bertola

University of Turin - Department of Economics ( email )

Lungo Dora Siena 100
Torino, 10153
Italy
+39 011 670 4405 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/site/gipbert

Paolo Sestito (Contact Author)

Bank of Italy ( email )

Via Nazionale 91
Rome, 00184
Italy

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