Abstract
The problem of regional imbalances is a central issue in the cohesion policy debate in Europe. This paper verifies whether the territorial dynamics of investment (and especially of public investment) in Italy has satisfied the principle of territorial rebalancing between the Central-Northern areas and the “Mezzogiorno” regions. The empirical evidence produced by the analysis of the flows of capital expenditure of investments, using the data of the territorial public accounts system, shows that the territorial gaps in recent years have widened, penalizing the regions of the South. It is necessary to think of a differential dynamic in the overall territorial flows of investments in order to favor the processes of territorial development in these regions which are most struggling to take off.
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Notes
- 1.
Vale [5] argues that under the financial crisis in the EU, “state rationalization and public investment cuts hinder a more rebalanced economic growth”, and according to Martin et al. [6], the UK economy needs a central government efficient coordination of “public investment programs to help secure spatial balance across the national economy”.
- 2.
SVIMEZ is an important association promoting industrial development in the Mezzogiorno of Italy. Born in 1946, SVIMEZ provides statistical evidence on the economic performances of southern Italy regions, yearly gathered in the “Report on the State of Mezzogiorno economy”, based on the National Census Bureau (ISTAT).
- 3.
CPT stands for “Sistema Conti Pubblici Territoriali”; it is a specific service of the Govern Agency for Cohesion and starting from 2004 its database is part of the Italian National Statistic System (SISTAN).
- 4.
- 5.
Source: Focus 4 “Expenditure for interventions aimed at development from 1951 to 2015” within the CPT publication: Annual Report 2017 - National policies and development policies at a territorial level”.
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Signorino, G., Arnone, M. (2021). Territorial Gap and Territorial Distribution of Public Investments in Italy. In: Bevilacqua, C., Calabrò, F., Della Spina, L. (eds) New Metropolitan Perspectives. NMP 2020. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 178. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48279-4_76
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