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Neither Communes nor Fiefs: King Owned Towns, Right Negotiations and Long Run Persistence. The Case of South Italy

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  • Elisa Borghi
  • Fabio Gatti
  • Donato Masciandaro

Abstract

According to the literature, historical episodes of local self-governing institutions can explain why differences in socio-economic performances among different territories can persist over centuries. Such assumption has been tested comparing free city-states (Communes) and feudal towns in Italy, Germany, Switzerland and United Kingdom. This paper explores a third and novel category: the King-owned towns. King-owned towns (KOTs) were present in South Italy when the Kingdom delegated jurisdictional and fiscal powers to the town ruling class, creating a self-governance setting, where the community representatives systematically implemented articulated right negotiations with the Crown, which in turn influenced the evolutions of the municipal statutes of their towns. We interpret this collective action as a mechanism that can explain the persistence effects. Empirically, we find that, given a town, its past king-owned experience is correlated with today outcomes, both in terms of current economic performances and civil capital. These results offer evidence that the KOT status is more similar to the Commune experience than to the fief experience.

Suggested Citation

  • Elisa Borghi & Fabio Gatti & Donato Masciandaro, 2022. "Neither Communes nor Fiefs: King Owned Towns, Right Negotiations and Long Run Persistence. The Case of South Italy," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 22182, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    • Handle: RePEc:baf:cbafwp:cbafwp22182
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Self-Governance; Long Run Persistence; Economic History; Political Institutions; Culture; Economic Geography; Italy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H10 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - General
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe
    • K00 - Law and Economics - - General - - - General (including Data Sources and Description)
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General

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