This paper explores the secular tradition of public banking in Southern Italy, focusing in particular on the nineteenth century. In its long history, Southern public banking took different forms, characterised by different degrees of centralisation, of control exercised by local or state...

In many European countries, wages are determined by collective bargaining agreements intended to improve wages and reduce inequality. We study the local and aggregate effects of collective bargaining in Italy and Germany. The two countries have similar geographical differences in firm...