IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ssa/lemwps/2022-26.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Wars, Depression, and Fascism: Income Inequality in Italy, 1900-1950

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Gomez Leon
  • Giacomo Gabbuti

Abstract

This paper shows yearly estimates of income inequality in Italy from 1900 to 1950. By constructing dynamic social tables, we comprehensively assess inequality across all components of Italian society. In a context of declining inequality across Europe, interwar Italy reveals a singular trajectory with a rise in inequality during WW1, markedly reversed during 1918-1922, resumed after the March on Rome and with a further increase during WW2. While consolidating the reinterpretation of inequality in interwar Europe, by showing so far overlooked short-term distributive shocks in Italy, our findings confirm the regressive nature of Italian Fascism.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Gomez Leon & Giacomo Gabbuti, 2022. "Wars, Depression, and Fascism: Income Inequality in Italy, 1900-1950," LEM Papers Series 2022/26, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    • Handle: RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2022/26
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.lem.sssup.it/WPLem/files/2022-26.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leticia Arroyo Abad & Pablo Astorga Junquera, 2017. "Latin American earnings inequality in the long run," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 11(3), pages 349-374, September.
    2. Brian A'Hearn & Nicola Amendola & Giovanni Vecchi, 2016. "On Historical Household Budgets," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 137-176.
    3. Bengtsson, Erik & Waldenström, Daniel, 2018. "Capital Shares and Income Inequality: Evidence from the Long Run," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 78(3), pages 712-743, September.
    4. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "Distributional National Accounts: Methods and Estimates for the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(2), pages 553-609.
    5. Lindert, Peter H. & Nafziger, Steven, 2014. "Russian Inequality on the Eve of Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(3), pages 767-798, September.
    6. Bartels, Charlotte, 2019. "Top Incomes in Germany, 1871-2014," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 79(3), pages 669-707.
    7. Alvaredo, Facundo & Atkinson, Anthony B. & Morelli, Salvatore, 2018. "Top wealth shares in the UK over more than a century," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 26-47.
    8. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2015. "Industrial Employment in Italy, 1911: The Burden of the Census Data," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 225-246.
    9. Jørgen Modalsli, 2015. "Inequality in the very long run: inferring inequality from data on social groups," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 13(2), pages 225-247, June.
    10. Giovanni Federico & Alessandro Nuvolari & Leonardo Ridolfi & Michelangelo Vasta, 2021. "The race between the snail and the tortoise: skill premium and early industrialization in Italy (1861–1913)," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 15(1), pages 1-42, January.
    11. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2016. "Fenoaltea on Industrial Employment in 1911: A Rejoinder," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 113-118.
    12. Germà Bel, 2011. "The first privatisation: selling SOEs and privatising public monopolies in Fascist Italy (1922--1925)," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 35(5), pages 937-956.
    13. Eichengreen, Barry & Hatton, Tim, 1988. "Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt7bw188gk, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    14. Robert C. Allen, 2019. "Class structure and inequality during the industrial revolution: lessons from England's social tables, 1688–1867," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 72(1), pages 88-125, February.
    15. van Zanden, Jan L., 1999. "Wages and the standard of living in Europe, 1500–1800," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 175-197, August.
    16. Lindert, Peter H. & Williamson, Jeffrey G., 1985. "Growth, equality, and history," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 341-377, October.
    17. Kiran Klaus Patel, 2016. "The New Deal: A Global History," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10591.
    18. Morrisson, Christian & Snyder, Wayne, 2000. "The income inequality of France in historical perspective," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 59-83, April.
    19. Emanuele Felice, 2005. "Il valore aggiunto regionale. Una stima per il 1891 e per il 1911 e alcune elaborazioni di lungo periodo (1891-1971)," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 273-314.
    20. Atkinson, A B, 1997. "Bringing Income Distribution in from the Cold," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(441), pages 297-321, March.
    21. Manfredi Alberti, 2018. "The History of Jobless Italy," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 69-106.
    22. Mattesini, F. & Quintieri, B., 2006. "Does a reduction in the length of the working week reduce unemployment? Some evidence from the Italian economy during the Great Depression," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 413-437, July.
    23. Vecchi, Giovanni, 2017. "Measuring Wellbeing: A History of Italian Living Standards," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199944590.
    24. Alfani, Guido, 2015. "Economic Inequality in Northwestern Italy: A Long-Term View (Fourteenth to Eighteenth Centuries)," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 75(4), pages 1058-1096, December.
    25. Giulia Mancini, 2018. "Women's Labor Force Participation in Italy, 1861-2011," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 3-68.
    26. Renato Giannetti & Michelangelo Vasta (ed.), 2006. "Evolution of Italian Enterprises in the 20th Century," Contributions to Economics, Springer, number 978-3-7908-1712-6.
    27. Facundo Alvaredo & Lucas Chancel & Thomas Piketty & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "Distributional National Accounts," Post-Print halshs-03342488, HAL.
    28. Vera Zamagni, 2016. "Fenoaltea on Industrial Employment in 1911: A Reply," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 109-112.
    29. Lindert, Peter H. & Williamson, Jeffrey G., 1983. "Reinterpreting Britain's social tables, 1688-1913," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 94-109, January.
    30. Stefano Manestra, 2010. "A short history of tax compliance in Italy," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 81, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    31. Rossi, Nicola & Toniolo, Gianni & Vecchi, Giovanni, 2001. "Is The Kuznets Curve Still Alive? Evidence From Italian Household Budgets, 1881–1961," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 61(4), pages 904-925, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giacomo Gabbuti, 2020. "A Noi! Income Inequality and Italian Fascism: Evidence from Labour and Top Income Shares," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _177, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    2. Giacomo Gabbuti, 2018. "Labour Shares and Income Inequality: Insights from Italian Economic History, 1895-2015," HHB Working Papers Series 13, The Historical Household Budgets Project.
    3. Milanovic, Branko, 2024. "How rich were the rich? An empirically-based taxonomy of pre-industrial bases of wealth," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    4. Thilo N. H. Albers & Charlotte Bartels & Moritz Schularick, 2020. "The Distribution of Wealth in Germany, 1895-2018," ECONtribute Policy Brief Series 001, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    5. Bukowski, Pawel & Novokmet, Filip, 2019. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892-2015," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102834, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Pawel Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2019. "Between Communism and Capitalism: Long-Term Inequality in Poland, 1892- 2015," World Inequality Lab Working Papers hal-02876995, HAL.
    7. Giordano, Claire & Giugliano, Ferdinando, 2015. "A tale of two Fascisms: Labour productivity growth and competition policy in Italy, 1911–1951," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 25-38.
    8. Julio Martinez-Galarraga & Marc Prat, 2022. "Pre-industrial inequality in Catalonia," UB School of Economics Working Papers 2022/430, University of Barcelona School of Economics.
    9. Brian A'Hearn & Stefano Chianese & Giovanni Vecchi, 2020. "Aristocracy and Inequality in Italy, 1861-1931," HHB Working Papers Series 18, The Historical Household Budgets Project.
    10. Pawel Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2019. "Between Communism and Capitalism: Long-Term Inequality in Poland, 1892- 2015," Working Papers hal-02876995, HAL.
    11. Matthew Fisher-Post, 2020. "Factor Shares in the long run," World Inequality Lab Working Papers hal-02876978, HAL.
    12. Bartels, Charlotte, 2019. "Top Incomes in Germany, 1871–2014," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 79(3), pages 669-707, September.
    13. Vincent Geloso & Peter Lindert, 2020. "Relative costs of living, for richer and poorer, 1688–1914," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 14(3), pages 417-442, September.
    14. Aaberge, Rolf & Atkinson, Anthony B. & Modalsli, Jørgen, 2020. "Estimating long-run income inequality from mixed tabular data: Empirical evidence from Norway, 1875–2017," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    15. Filip Novokmet & Thomas Piketty & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "From Soviets to oligarchs: inequality and property in Russia 1905-2016," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(2), pages 189-223, June.
    16. Thomas Piketty & Li Yang, 2022. "Income and Wealth Inequality in Hong Kong, 1981–2020: The Rise of Pluto-Communism? [Top Wealth Shares in the UK over More than a Century]," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(4), pages 803-834.
    17. Jakob Kapeller & Rafael Wildauer, 2019. "Rank Correction: A New Approach to Differential Non-Response in Wealth Survey Data," ICAE Working Papers 101, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    18. Benjamin Moll & Lukasz Rachel & Pascual Restrepo, 2022. "Uneven Growth: Automation's Impact on Income and Wealth Inequality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(6), pages 2645-2683, November.
    19. Tarek Benjamin Moll & Lukasz Rachel & Pascual Restrepo, 2019. "Uneven Growth: Automation’s Impact on Income and Wealth Inequality," Boston University - Department of Economics - The Institute for Economic Development Working Papers Series dp-333, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    20. Arun Advani & George Bangham & Jack Leslie, 2021. "The UK's wealth distribution and characteristics of high‐wealth households," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(3-4), pages 397-430, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fascist Italy; income inequality; interwar Europe; dynamic social tables.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2022/26. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/labssit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.