Networks of powers, networks of capitals and economic growth: querying the history of Southern Italy from a global perspective (1850-1914). A new interdisciplinary approach

ACRONYM
IFESMEZ

[The present version of the project has received the ERC evaluation B – high quality project, within the scope of ERC synergy projects – Corresponding PI Maria Carmela Schisani; other PIs: Marco Meriggi, Carlo Lauro, Enrica Amaturo]

Abstract:
In the light of the recent financial crisis, the doubts on the efficacy of the openness of the capital markets have intensified the debate on the connection between financial integration and growth. Literature seems to suggest a difficulty in detecting univocity in the connection in a positive sense. In line with the neoclassical tradition, many have shown a positive impact of financial integration on growth, especially for developing countries. These results are offset by the arguments of those who show that financial integration does not increase wealth in the presence of distortions such as weak institutions and informational asymmetries that affect the working of the international capital market. More recently, the contrasting conclusions of the literature have led to empirical analyses that, by looking at the economic history, tested the validity of the results on long-term comparisons. Qualitative analyses, that consider social, institutional and cultural factors, seem more effective in accounting for the processes of convergence/lack of convergence of some peripheral systems on levels of the core area. Such analyses aim to underline the role of international capitals in the growth of the peripheral economies until 1914, when the entrance of foreign capitals in local markets, by activating the forces of competition by means of larger investment opportunities, had the advantage of lowering the cost of capital for the existing businesses, thereby fostering growth. The research project proposes a new interdisciplinary approach, supported by an original qualitative/quantitative relational database (IFESMez - acronym of “Imprese, Finanza, Economia e Società /Enterprises, Finance, Economy and Society” in the Mezzogiorno), in order to ascertain to what extent these forces of competition actually exerted a role in the growth process of Southern Italy within the scope of the first wave of financial integration (1850-1914).

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The methodology of the present project is based on a massive application of digital tools to historical research. The aim is that of ordering and storing, managing and relating data to be collected through archival research. The needed datasets both concern economic and socio-political individual and collective actors of the system Mezzogiorno, their actions/activities and significant events, etc. with particular attention for those actors involved in what were the main forms of investment attracting foreign capitals: public loans and FDI (Foreign Direct Investments) in specific business sectors.

1. Economic actors:

   • qualitative data:
     • individual actors: public loans contractors, subcontractors, notaries, etc.; enterprises founder members, shareholders, borrowers, administrators, chairmen - indications supplied with short biographies where available;
     • collective actors: enterprises constitution, duration, legal office, administrative head office, if any, etc.
   • quantitative data: public bonds nominal value, underwriting price, interest, current yield, etc.; capital stocks, shares (number and nominal value), bonds (number and nominal value), balances - (in reclassified form and with links to analytical pages), stock exchange data, weekly quotations on different national and international stock exchanges
2. Political/social actors:

   • Composition of political and administrative bodies of the State (Monarchy; Governments; significant ministerial bodies; Parliament – legislatures of Chamber of Deputies and Senate; peripheral bodies – legislatures of city councils and municipalities; control bodies – ordinary and special Courts, such as Court of Auditors, State Council, etc.). These data should be collected from both archival (State Archive of Naples, Turin, Florence, Rome; Municipal Archive of Naples) and printed sources (National Libraries of Naples, Florence, Rome)
   • Composition of economic and financial institutions (boards of directors, ownership/co-ownership, management, etc.)
   • Composition of institutions which have social and economic importance:
   • Advisory bodies, such as Chamber of Commerce, etc.
   • Associative bodies, such as clubs, parties, etc
   • Composition of family groups (family ties) of the actors individuated during the research development – through prosopographical studies and related sources.
3. Events/actions/activities

   • chronology of historical events significant to the research purposes: institutional changes, laws, decrees, wars, revolutions,diplomatic relations, historical events related to actors.

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The instrument to collecting and relating the above mentioned data is a complex relational database IFESMEZ - which is the acronym for Imprese, Finanza, Economia, Società nel Mezzogiorno / Enterprise, Finance, Economy and Society in the Mezzogiorno – which is hosted on a web server of the University of Naples “Federico II” (www.ifesmez.unina.it).