Abstract

This paper presents the first reconstruction of the value-added in Italy during the Liberal Age at the provincial level for four benchmark years: 1871, 1881, 1901 and 1911. Figures are provided for agriculture, industry, and services, for all 69 Italian provinces. The exercise is performed using an implementation of the Geary-Stark framework. Additionally, this paper also addresses the accounting problem in the textile workforce known as the «textile bias». The results provide an extensive look into the economy of each province. They show that the Industrial Triangle constituted by the provinces of Genoa, Milan and Turin was the cornerstone of the entire economy, fostering growth in the surrounding provinces. However, the reconstruction shows a large heterogeneity amongst provinces even within each macro-area