Wars, depression, and fascismincome inequality in Italy, 1900-1950

Resumen

This paper documents new, yearly estimates of overall income inequality for Italy, from the first industrial 'take-off' to the eve of the ‘Economic Miracle’, contributing both to the comparative literature on the evolution of inequality in the interwar decades, and to the historiography of Italian fascism and its distributive legacy. By constructing dynamic social tables, we are able to obtain the first comprehensive assessment of all major components of Italian society, shedding light on overlooked ‘halves’ (women, self-employed workers, capital earners), and to consistently compare these results to estimates available for Britain, Germany and Spain. We identify a steep decline in inequality (especially within-labour) after the Great War, followed by a reversal between 1922 and 1931, a relative stability, and a further increase during WWII, this time driven by capital income.