Italy’s North-South Divide Yet Again: Some New Evidence from Firms, Sectors and Territories

digital

Article

Magazine

RIVISTA INTERNAZIONALE DI SCIENZE SOCIALI

Fascicle

RIVISTA INTERNAZIONALE DI SCIENZE SOCIALI - 2021 - 2

Title

Italy’s North-South Divide Yet Again: Some New Evidence from Firms, Sectors and Territories

Authors

Pier Francesco Asso, Sebastiano Nerozzi, Vito Pipitone

Publisher

Vita e Pensiero

Format

Article |

Pdf

Online from

06-2021

Doi

10.26350/000518_000065

Issn

0035-676X (print) | 1827-7918 (digital)

€ 6.00

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Description

The recent literature on the North-South divide in Italy has refuted a homogeneous reading and treatment of the “Southern question” and has recalled the importance of deep intra-South disparities. This paper contributes to this line of research, offering some descriptions of intra-South disparities. We first make use of data at the firm level pertaining to the manufacturing sector between 2008 and 2019 to show how productive units differ within each macro-area according to their main balance-sheet indicators and to technical efficiency, both in terms of their average and variability. Secondly, we use different data available at the provincial level to assess the territorial disparities existing with regard to crucial indicators (exports, patents, infrastructure, education, social capital etc.). Overall, this paper shows how relevant intra-South variability is and how manifold disparities may be intertwined in a very complex way, shaping the dynamics of territories, sectors, and firms.

keywords

Regional inequalities, Italy, Dualism, Firms, Technical efficiency.

Authors biography

Pier Francesco Asso, University of Palermo, Department of Political Sciences and International Relations, E mail: francesco.asso@unipa.it.
Sebastiano Nerozzi, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Department of Economics and Finance, Email: sebastiano.nerozzi@unicatt.it.
Vito Pipitone, National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean, and LUMSA University, Department of Law, Email: vito.pipitone@crn.it.