Southern and Northern Italy in the Great Divergence: New Perspectives from the Occupational Structure

Structural transformation is a key indicator of economic development. This paper reconstructs and examines spatial patterns of the occupational structure in pre-unification Italy, combining direct observations and urbanization rates. In 1861, the agricultural labour share was higher in Southern Italy than in the Centre and North. During the Risorgimento, provincial wages converged within the Centre-North. The predicted Centre-North/South GDP per capita ratio declined in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as the Centre-North stagnated and the South grew slowly. Southern Italy forged ahead of China after, and fell behind Britain before, the Centre-North did, but by pre-modern standards it nonetheless emerged as a middle-high income area.