Manlio Rossi-Doria and the Centre of Specialization: A Multiperspective Reflection

This article introduces an unpublished manuscript by Manlio Rossi-Doria, written on the occasion of the celebrations for the twentieth year of activities of the “Centro di Specializzazione e Ricerche Economico-Agrarie per il Mezzogiorno” (Centre for Specialisation and Agro-Economic Research for Southern Italy), better known as the Centro di Portici (Portici Centre). The article highlights the importance of Rossi-Doria’s approach to economic development and, in particular, to the problems of Italy’s Mezzogiorno, and the role that he assigned to education and the training of human capital as driving factors of growth. The article goes on commenting on the papers by the other contributing authors, which help to appraise the international dimension; the interdisciplinary collaboration; the link between training and research activities, and the close connection between theoretical research, quantitative techniques and applied research as pursued at the Portici Centre.