Born the first LOST HIGHWAY Brainstorming meeting
The first LHbrs, organised by the Siena unit, has taken place at the Department of Economics and Statistics of the University of Siena in a blended format. Michelangelo Vasta has inaugurated the meeting with a welcoming message explaining the main aims of the LHbrs: getting in touch, presenting results, sharing ideas on preliminary research projects of young scholars in a lively and informal setting.
Topics:
wages, Innovation
Location: Siena, Department of Economics and Statistics
Giacomo Gabbuti has opened the first session presenting his newly constructed dataset on individual fiscal data and illustrating the potential of this rich source material for understanding economic inequality in post-unification Italy. Giuliana Freschi’s intervention on intergenerational mobility and female employment in XIX century Italy has followed. Using untapped historical sources and new methodological insights, Freschi work has opened new venues for future research on this often neglected issue in historical perspective.
The second session has seen the interventions of Vania Licio and Andrea Incerpi. Licio’s presentation has led us to the heart of a key debate in economic history: Bob Allen ‘high wage economy’ hypothesis and tested its implications in the context of two latecomer countries, Italy and Spain. Andrea Incerpi then discussed the state of the art about trade statistics in pre-unification Italy and presented new sources and methodologies to fill this crucial gap in the current literature on Italian trade. The afternoon session has started with a discussion on real wages in pre-unification Italy during which Leonardo Ridolfi and Tancredi Buscemi have presented ongoing research on Florence and Sicily, respectively addressing key debates on the long-term economic development of Italy before Italy.
The last session has delved into inventive activities and trade in pre and post-unification Italy. Marco Martinez has presented his ongoing research co-authored with Alessandro Nuvolari and Michelangelo Vasta on long term patterns in inventive activity and presented a large New Historical Patent Dataset, covering the period 1855-1914 and its potential implications for future research. Christopher Absell has finally discussed the so called ‘distance puzzle’ in the Italian context over the years 1861-1938.
The active participation of the audience animated a lively and stimulating debate.
Programme
10.15-10.30 Welcome
10.30-11.00 Giacomo Gabbuti (SSSA)*
Economic inequality in post-unification Italy: new evidence from fiscal sources
11.00-11.30 Giuliana Freschi (SSSA)*
Intergenerational mobility and female employment in XIX century Italy
11.30 – 12.00 Coffee break
12.00-12.30 Vania Licio (USiena)
A low-wage economy? Exploring the Italian industrialization process (1861-1911)
12.30-13.00 Andrea Incerpi (UPisa)*
Rejoining the past: sources, methodology and limits of the Italian trade patterns in pre-unification States
13.00 -15.00 Lunch at “Ristorante I Terzi” (off campus)
15.00-15.30 Leonardo Ridolfi (USiena)*
Reffici debet! The making of a masterpiece: the Dome of Florence and its workers
15.30-16.00 Tancredi Buscemi (UPerugia)*
Real wages in the Kingdom of Sicily: evidence from new sources (1540-1830)
16.00 – 16.30 Coffee break
16.30-17.00 Marco Martinez (SSSA)*
Patterns of Inventive Activities in Italy during the Liberal Age: Evidence from a New Historical Patent Dataset, 1855-1914
17.00-17.30 Christopher Absell (UPisa)
Fostering trade: Italy and the distance puzzle, 1861-1938