From 24 to 26 September 2025, scholars and experts from Italy and abroad will meet between Catanzaro and Naples to discuss one of the most current and complex issues in Italy’s economic history: regional disparities and development policies, looking back over 70 years.
The conference, entitled “Regional gaps, development policies and economic impacts in Italy: A new long-term perspective (1950-2024)” was created under the PRIN 2022 (Project of Significant National Interest) entitled ‘The assessment of regional development policies in Italy through a new database (1950s-2000s)’, coordinated by the University of Campania ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’ e ‘Magna Graecia’ of Catanzaro. Objective: Analyse the causes and effects of economic differences between North and South and assess the impact of public policies implemented over more than seven decades.
The three-day event, which is dedicated to the memory of Vittorio Daniele, professor of economic policy at the University of Calabria, who died a few months ago, will open. on 24 September in Catanzaro, at the ‘Magna Græcia’ University, and will continue on 25 and 26 September in Naples, in the Hall of Frescoes of the ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’ University of Campania.
Topical issues will be at the heart of the discussions: from industrial policies to European cohesion measures, from the role of southern institutions to relations between the Mezzogiorno, the Mediterranean and North Africa.
Three leading figures in global economic research will contribute to the global scope of the event: Deirdre McCloskey (Cato Institute and University of Illinois Chicago), which will talk about liberalism and Italian history, Joan R. Rosés (London School of Economics), with a lecture on the evolution of regional inequalities in Europe and Barry Eichengreen (University of California, Berkeley), which will close the work by comparing the experiences of different countries.
During the conference will also be presented a Innovative digital platform, the result of the PRIN project, which collects data and information on incentives to industry and investment in Southern Italy since the post-war period. A valuable resource for scholars, institutions and policy makers. A first summary of the results is already available in the volume open access Published by Rubbettino: “Regional gaps, development policies and economic impacts in the Mezzogiorno: a new long-term perspective (1950-2024)”.
The conference will be held in Italian and English and is open to scholars, institutions, students and anyone who wants to deepen the subject. Participation is free, but the online registration on the official website: www.economia.unicampania.it/homepage/eventi/600.
English (UK)