Italian Industrial Production, 1861-1913: A Statistical Reconstruction. D. The Chemical, Coal and Petroleum Products, and Rubber Industries

This paper is the fourth section of Italian Industrial Production, 1861 1913: A Statistical Reconstruction (in progress). It documents the derivation, from the historical sources, of the 88 time series that trace the physical product of the chemical industry, of the further nine series that trace the physical product of the coal and petroleum products industries, of the single series that traces the physical product of the rubber industry, and of the corresponding estimates of value added per unit at 1911 prices. The series for coal and petroleum products and most modern chemicals (e.g., fertilizers, electrochemicals) are derived directly from the sources, albeit with frequent interpolations between early benchmarks; those for traditional chemicals (e.g., fats and oils, pharmaceuticals) are teased out from indirect evidence; and the rubber-products series is estimated from the apparent consumption of the raw material.