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Monetary Union, institutions and financial market integration: Italy, 1862-1905

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  • Toniolo, Gianni
  • Conte, Leandro
  • Vecchi, Giovanni

Abstract

The Paper draws its motivation from the observation that, three years into the single currency, EMU financial markets are making only slow progress towards integration and from the belief that economic history can offer useful insight as to the causes of the phenomenon. In this vein, we investigate a previous case of financial market integration in the wake of monetary unification, that of Italy after 1862. We find that the prices of the Rendita Italiana 5% (Italian Consols) across regional stock exchanges did not fully converge until 1887, twenty five years after the creation of a ?monetary union? in the peninsula. Regression analysis shows that variables such as the spread of ICT, trade volumes and the diffusion of the ?single currency? fail to explain the delay in financial market unification. We argue that markets remained relatively fragmented because local vested interests resisted the legal and regulatory changes needed to make arbitrage across individual stock exchanges efficient. A single Italian financial market appeared only when the State imposed more uniform financial market legislation nationwide, a fact that the EU should perhaps not overlook.
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  • Toniolo, Gianni & Conte, Leandro & Vecchi, Giovanni, 2003. "Monetary Union, institutions and financial market integration: Italy, 1862-1905," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 443-461, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:40:y:2003:i:4:p:443-461
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    Cited by:

    1. Silvana Bartoletto & Bruno Chiarini & Elisabetta Marzano, 2013. "Is the Italian Public Debt Really Unsustainable? An Historical Comparison (1861-2010)," CESifo Working Paper Series 4185, CESifo.
    2. Barry Eichengreen, 2008. "Sui Generis EMU," NBER Working Papers 13740, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Chiaruttini, Maria Stella, 2020. "Banking integration and (under)development: A quantitative reassessment of the Italian financial divide (1814-74)," IBF Paper Series 03-20, IBF – Institut für Bank- und Finanzgeschichte / Institute for Banking and Financial History, Frankfurt am Main.
    4. Carlo Ciccarelli & Stefano Fenoaltea & Tommaso Proietti, 2010. "The effects of unification: markets, policy, and cyclical convergence in Italy, 1861–1913," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 4(3), pages 269-292, October.
    5. Filippo Cesarano & Giulio Cifarelli & Gianni Toniolo, 2009. "Exchange Rate Regimes and Reserve Policy on the Periphery: The Italian Lira 1883-1911," Working Papers - Economics wp2009_11.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    6. John Hawkins & Paul Masson, 2003. "Economic aspects of regional currency areas and the use of foreign currencies," BIS Papers chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Regional currency areas and the use of foreign currencies, volume 17, pages 4-42, Bank for International Settlements.
    7. Vittorio Daniele & Pasquale Foresti & Oreste Napolitano, 2017. "The stability of money demand in the long-run: Italy 1861–2011," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 11(2), pages 217-244, May.
    8. Emma M., Iglesias & J. Carles, Maixé-Altés, 2021. "Money Market Integration in Spain in the Ninetheen Century: The Role of the 1875-1885 Decade," MPRA Paper 109219, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Silvana Bartoletto & Bruno Chiarini & Elisabetta Marzano, 2012. "The Sustainability of Fiscal Policy in Italy: A Long-Term Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series 3812, CESifo.
    10. Maixé-Altés, J. Carles & Iglesias, Emma M., 2009. "Domestic monetary transfers and the inland bill of exchange markets in Spain (1775-1885)," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 496-521, April.
    11. Filippo Cesarano & Giulio Cifarelli & Gianni Toniolo, 2012. "Exchange Rate Regimes and Reserve Policy: The Italian Lira, 1883–1911," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 253-275, April.
    12. Chilosi, David & Volckart, Oliver, 2010. "Books or bullion? Printing, mining and financial integration in Central Europe from the 1460s," Economic History Working Papers 28986, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    13. Chilosi, David & Volckart, Oliver, 2009. "Money, states and empire: financial integration cycles and institutional change in Central Europe, 1400-1520," Economic History Working Papers 27884, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    14. Federico, Giovanni, 2007. "Market integration and market efficiency: The case of 19th century Italy," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 293-316, April.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • N23 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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