Human Capital

The chapter reviews the evolution of educational institutions and outcomes over the 150 years since Italy's unification and discusses their interaction with national and regional growth patterns. Initial educational conditions across regions contributed to differentiate the early industrial take off in the late nineteenth century. Conversely, formal education does not appear to have played a major role in the post-war economic boom. The slowdown of Italy's economy since the 1990s may in part reflect interactions between the country's traditionally low human capital intensity and its new comparative advantage patterns. It may also be due in part to the deterioration of Italy's educational system's organization since the 1970s.