The first paper by Carlo Ciccarelli, Alberto Dalmazzo and Tiziano Razzolini reconsiders the nexus between the abundance of resources and the origins of Sicilian mafia by exploiting a new set of historical data on the Sicilian sulphur industry in the late 19th century, obtained from official reports of the Royal Corps of Mining Engineers. The authors find that the relation between sulphur production and mafia at the municipal level followed an inverted U-shape pattern, suggesting that the impact on mafia was smaller -or nil- in the areas richest in sulphur. They also find that mechanization in the extraction process was associated with lower incidence of mafia. Taken together, these findings suggest that larger lodes encouraged better and more orderly working conditions for the miners, possibly reducing physical and psychic strain and, consequently, inclination to violence.

The second paper by María Gómez León and Giacomo Gabbuti documents new yearly estimates of income inequality in Italy from 1900 to 1950. By constructing dynamic social tables, the authors provide the first comprehensive assessment of all major components of Italian society, as well as to consistent comparable inequality estimates to those available for Britain, Germany and Spain. In line with other European countries, Italy shows short-term inequality changes during this period. Their results suggest a steep decline in inequality in Italy (especially within-labour) after WWI, followed by a reversal between 1922 and 1931, a relative stability, and a further increase during WWII, driven by capital income.