AGRICULTURAL POLICY AND LONG-RUN DEVELOPMENT: EVIDENCE FROM MUSSOLINI'S BATTLE FOR GRAIN

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Carillo, Mario F.
• 署名单位: University of Naples Federico II
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1093/ej/ueaa060
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 566-597
• 关键词: local economic-development; productivity growth; TECHNOLOGY; population; origins; MARKET; industrialization; institutions; stagnation; revolution

摘要

This article explores the long-run effect of agricultural policies on industrialisation and economic development. I analyse the differential effect of the Battle for Grain, implemented by the Italian Fascist regime to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat, on the development path across areas of Italy. Employing cross-sectional variation in land suitability for advanced wheat production technologies, along with time variation in their diffusion, I find that the policy had unintended positive effects on industrialisation and economic prosperity, which have persisted until today. Furthermore, I find that the complementarity between human capital and agricultural technology was a critical mechanism.