Civic Capital and Development: Italy, 1951-2001

33 Pages Posted: 14 Oct 2014

Date Written: March 20, 2014

Abstract

We empirically investigate the role of civic capital (proxied by voter turnout) in Italy's economic development in the second half of the Twentieth century. Using a unique dataset at the city level, we show that over a fifty-year span voter turnout was steadily correlated with economic development and that this reflected some causality running from the former to the latter. We also find that the impact of civic capital was greater in the period immediately after the Second World War and gradually waned in the following decades.

Keywords: civic capital, development, Italy

JEL Classification: O10, O43

Suggested Citation

Albanese, Giuseppe and de Blasio, Guido, Civic Capital and Development: Italy, 1951-2001 (March 20, 2014). Bank of Italy Economic History Working Paper No. 32, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2509762 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2509762

Giuseppe Albanese

Bank of Italy ( email )

Via Nazionale 91
Rome, 00184
Italy

Guido De Blasio (Contact Author)

Bank of Italy ( email )

Via Nazionale 91
00184 Roma
Italy

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