Public expenditure in Italian public finance theory

This paper examines public expenditure in the Italian public finance literature between the end of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century. Three aspects are considered: the factors that determine the growth of public expenditure; integration of the tax and expenditure sides in the theory of shifting and incidence of taxation; and the general productivity of public expenditure. The main conclusion of the paper is that Italian economists have examined the problem of public finance in a general context, taking into consideration both taxes and public expenditure at the same time.