The Lost Highway Workshop (LHws) took place on the 12th and 13th of July at the Sant’Anna School for Advanced Studies in Pisa. The Workshop brought together experts and researchers from the University of Siena, Sant’Anna School for Advanced Studies in Pisa, University of Pisa and Cattolica University of Milan. The Workshop addressed various topics on the development paths of Italy, like education, innovation and trade. In the final part of the Workshop, the group of Sant’Anna and Siena presented the new research avenue they are addressing regarding the regional development in Italy before 1861.
12 July 2023
14:30 Welcome (Alessandro Nuvolari and Giovanni Federico)
Chair: Michelangelo Vasta
15:00-16:00 Alessandro Nuvolari and Tancredi Salamone (SSSA)
Manufacturing productivity in Italy during the 1930s
Discussant: Tancredi Buscemi (USiena)
16:00-17:00 Gabriele Cappelli, Pau Insa-Sanchez and Michelangelo Vasta (USiena)
Catching the technological frontier: technical education in Italy (1861-1914)
Discussant: Giuliana Freschi (SSSA)
17:00 – 17:30 Coffee break
Chair: Carlo Ciccarelli
17:30-18:30 Lucrezia Fanti, Marcelo Pereira and Maria Enrica Virgillito (Unicatt)
A North-South agent based model of segmented labour markets. The role of education and trade asymmetries
Discussant: Emanuele Felice (IULM)
18:30-19:30 Gabriele Cappelli, Vania Licio and Michelangelo Vasta (USiena)
The drivers of the Italian “big spurt” (1861-1914): wages, energy and technology
Discussant: Giacomo Gabbuti (SSSA)
13 July 2023
Chair: Emanuele Felice
9:30-10:30 Giovanni Federico and Andrea Incerpi (UPisa)
Italy in post-unification “crises”: trade, capital flows and state budget (1861-1883)
Discussant: Paolo Di Martino (UTorino)
10:30-11.30 Lucrezia Fanti, Marcelo Pereira and Maria Enrica Virgillito (Unicatt)
Trade or industrial policies? A policy roadmap for economic development under a complexity approach
Discussant: Andrea Incerpi (UPisa)
11:30 – 12:00 Coffee break
Chair: Paolo Di Martino
12:00-13:00 Marco Martinez, Alessandro Nuvolari and Michelangelo Vasta (SSSA and UNISI)
The impact of railroads on innovation: new evidence from Italy, 1855-1914
Discussant: Carlo Ciccarelli (URoma2)
13:00 -14:30 Lunch
BEYOND LOST HIGHWAY
14:30-15:30 Giovanni Federico (UPisa), Alessandro Nuvolari (SSSA), Leonardo Ridolfi and Michelangelo Vasta (USiena)
Italian economic growth in the long run, 1300-1860: A regional state perspective