Italy’s Total Factor Productivity in a Global Economy: Growth and Spillover Effects (c. 1400–2010)

in Italian Economic Journal (2023)

Due to a lack of historical data, there is a gap in the literature with regard to total factor productivity (TFP) series in the long run for Italy. In this article, by combing information from the ... [more ▼]

Due to a lack of historical data, there is a gap in the literature with regard to total factor productivity (TFP) series in the long run for Italy. In this article, by combing information from the literature, original TFP estimates assessed with a “price dual” methodology (where changes in factor prices are used to capture physical output), and a Cobb–Douglas production equation, we first introduce a set of new TFP measures for Italy between 1360 and 1770 as well as for various global regions from c. 1400 to 2010. Second, the resulting new dataset allows us to decompose TFP in global spillover effects of technology and local effects for Italy in the long run. We find that spillover effects played a non-significant part in determining Italy’s TFP decline between c. 1600 and 1800. However, the spillover component grew faster during the period 1890–2010 and reached peaks during phases of declining local (trend) TFP growth, such as between the two world wars and in the period starting with the second globalisation (1989–2010). [less ▲]

The regional occupational structure in interwar England and Wales

in Historical Methods (2022)

A lack of regional data on the occupational structure in England and Wales during the interwar years has so far prevented extensive study of this time period. In the current paper, we fill this gap by ... [more ▼]

A lack of regional data on the occupational structure in England and Wales during the interwar years has so far prevented extensive study of this time period. In the current paper, we fill this gap by reconstructing the occupational structure at the district level, based on a recently-digitized register for 1939 and by linking this dataset with the population censuses of 1911 and 1921. The resulting data reveals significant regional differences in the expansion of the tertiary sector, and the relative decline of agricultural and industrial activities. For industry, we find an increase in the level of geographical concentration during 1911–1921, to decline by 1939. The primary sector followed a similar pattern, whereas activities in the tertiary sector became less concentrated. [less ▲]