Carlo Ciccarelli (@carciccar.bsky.social)

A cold case (over 160 years old): The effects of unification on Italy’s North-South divide Few economic debates have lasted as long as the 160-year debate concerning the effects of Italian unification on the economies of Italy’s South and North. This column proposes a way to move the argument forward. The authors estimate the causal effects of unification on the agricultural share, literacy rates, and railway density in the South and the Centre-North using a rigorous counterfactual framework. Their findings challenge the idea that unification increased Italy’s North-South divide. In fact, neither region experienced widespread benefits from the unified state. https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/cold-case-over-160-years-old-effects-unification-italys-north-south-divide