The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it examines the evolution of regional disparities among the Italian regions during the period 1980-2007. Secondly, the paper analyses the relationship between public spending and regional productivity growth. This analysis is based on the Regional...

The paper analyses the underpinning factors of foreign direct investments towards the MENA countries. Our main interpretative hypothesis is based on the significant role of the quality of institutions to attract FDI. In MENA experience the growth of FDI flows proved to be notably inferior to...

The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of crime on FDI inflows in 103 Italian provinces. The incidence of criminality is measured through the number of complaints for different kinds of crime. The analysis has been conducted using different estimation methods for panel data. The...

This paper examines the evolution of regional disparities among Italian regions in the period 1980-2007. A growth accounting exercise offers some evidences on the sources of growth and convergence.

The recent work by E. Felice, Perché il Sud è rimasto indietro, il Mulino, Bologna, 2013, is rather a pamphlet than a book of economic history. In the present article, we discuss both the statistical series of regional GDP from 1871 until 2001 worked out by Felice (section 1), and the...