Napoleonic Administrative Reforms and Development in the Italian Mezzogiorno

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cainelli, Giulio; Ciccarelli, Carlo; Ganau, Roberto
• 署名单位: University of Padua; University of Rome Tor Vergata; University of Warwick; London School Economics & Political Science; University of London; London School Economics & Political Science
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050725100946
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: origins; GROWTH; state

摘要

We study how changes in a country's administrative hierarchy affect development at the city level. We exploit the 1806 Napoleonic administrative reform implemented in the Kingdom of Naples as a historical experiment to assess whether district capitals endowed with supra-municipal administrative functions gained an urban development premium compared with non-capital cities. We find that district capitals recorded a population growth premium throughout the nineteenth century (1828-1911) and experienced higher industrialization both before and after the Italian unification (1861) compared with non-capital cities. We explain our results through mechanisms related to public goods provision and transport network accessibility.