THE TWO SOUTHS OF ALFREDO DEL MONTE

摘要

Del Monte's book deals with the convergence among different and heterogeneous areas of a single country. He has adopted a comparative approach: the two less developed areas are the two Souths, Italy, and the USA. Its purpose is to explain the fact that the famous convergence thesis of neo-classical growth theory holds for the American South but not for the Mezzogiorno. In a first approximation, the answer lies in the fact that growth in the South of the USA and the Mezzogiorno followed two different patterns. In the former, the crucial role was played by manufacturing and exports, while in the latter by public expenditure and other fiscal transfers. This explanation needs some further clarifications, which indeed are given in the book. Special attention is given to cultural and institutional as distinct from strictly economic factors in the development processes.