2023/43 | LEM Working Paper Series | ||||||||||||||||
Wealth, Inheritance, and Concentration: An 'Old' New Perspective on Italy and its Regions from Unification to the Great War |
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Giacomo Gabbuti and Salvatore Morelli |
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Keywords | |||||||||||||||||
inequality; inheritance; wealth; Liberal Italy; Southern Question
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JEL Classifications | |||||||||||||||||
D31; D63; E21; H24; N33
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Abstract | |||||||||||||||||
Despite its relevance in 19th-century economics, wealth -its
accumulation, composition, and distribution- has largely been
neglected in Italian economic history. Filling this gap, we show that
between the late 19th and mid-20th centuries, Italy presented a
historically high value of total private wealth but had relatively
small relevance in total bequests flows in proportion to national
income. Then, we present novel estimates of wealth concentration
between 1863 and 1914, combining national tabulations of inheritance
tax records and microdata archives for Milan and Naples. During this
period, wealth concentration in Italy was in line with the highest
levels ever recorded since the late Middle Ages. Contrary to the
evidence of declining income inequality in the period -traditionally
considered the industrial 'take-off' phase of Italy- we find no clear
signs of trends in wealth concentration or structural changes in
wealth composition. This picture is confirmed and enriched by novel
findings about wealth concentration at provincial and regional levels
in the early 20th century. We show a great deal of heterogeneity
beyond national aggregates but find no evidence of the classic
North-South divide when looking at concentration. Likewise, we find no
clear link between concentration levels and asset composition or
economic development. Although contemporary inequality is much lower
than early 20th-century figures, the 'real' wealth of present
'millionaires' seems much higher than that of historically rich
individuals. Overall, the paper lays the basis for a very long-run
view of wealth in Italy and reconsiders the impact of its
industrialization at the end of the Liberal period.
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