Structural change, growth, and convergence in Italy: 1951-1970

Piras, Romano

2022-01-01

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Abstract

We study the role of structural change on convergence in Italy by investigating the shifting of the labor force from agricultural to the manufacturing, market service, and nonmarket service sectors during the years of the Italian economic miracle. We find that the standard capital deepening mechanism was not the one that worked for convergence, rather it was structural change. Furthermore, we document that such a role was heterogeneous between the Center-Northern and the Southern regions. Finally, notwithstanding the huge internal and international migration flows that occurred during this period, we detect no significant role of migration in the convergence process