Technological Progress in Italian Regions: Some Comparisons

In this paper we study technological progress in a set of representative Italian regions. The analysis is conducted using input-output data. We construct the technological frontiers and calculate new indices of technological progress (see Fredholm and Zambelli 2009 and Zambelli and Fredholm 2010). The empirical results are robust and seem to be interesting. We find, for the years 2001 and 2004 that Trentino and Sicily are the regions, among those examined, with the largest number of technologically advanced productive methods, while Veneto and Lombardy are characterized by poor relative technological performance. Given the micro data about observed productivity this result is, at first, surprising, but we provide an interpretation. In the case of the Trentino region the technological progress is actually exploited so that the region is near to full employment and the income generated is relatively high. In the case of Sicily our results show that there is a great potential for growth which is not exploited. Veneto and Lombardy seem to be cases in which the embodied technological progress is not high, this indicates, ceteris paribus, a low potential for future growth or, alternatively, that the development has occurred in the past. Good performance is also indicated by Emilia Romagna.