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Measuring Productivity Dispersion: Lessons From Counting One-Hundred Million Ballots

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  • Ilzetzki, Ethan
  • Simonelli, Saverio

Abstract

We measure output per worker in nearly 8,000 municipalities in the Italian electoral process using ballot counting times in the 2013 general election and two referenda in 2016. We document large productivity dispersion across provinces in this very uniform and low-skill task that involves nearly no technology and requires limited physical capital. Using a development accounting framework, this measure explains up to half of the firm-level productivity dispersion across Italian provinces and more than half the north-south productivity gap in Italy. We explore potential drivers of our measure of labor efficiency and find that its association with measures of work ethic and trust is particularly robust.

Suggested Citation

  • Ilzetzki, Ethan & Simonelli, Saverio, 2017. "Measuring Productivity Dispersion: Lessons From Counting One-Hundred Million Ballots," CEPR Discussion Papers 12273, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12273
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    3. Boltho, Andrea & Carlin, Wendy & Scaramozzino, Pasquale, 2018. "Why East Germany did not become a new Mezzogiorno," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 308-325.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor productivity; Development accounting; Work ethic; Cultural economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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