We measure output per worker in nearly 8,000 municipalities in the Italian electoral processudusing ballot counting times in the 2013 general election and two referenda in 2016. We documentudlarge productivity dispersion across provinces in this very uniform and low-skill taskudthat involves nearly no technology and requires limited physical capital. Using a developmentudaccounting framework, this measure explains up to half of the firm-level productivity dispersionudacross Italian provinces and more than half the north-south productivity gap in Italy. Weudexplore potential drivers of our measure of labor efficiency and find that its association withudmeasures of work ethic and trust is particularly robust.
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