Economic Growth and Undernutrition: Italy, 1861-2011

Giovanni VecchiUniversità di Roma “Tor Vergata”

17th ICABR Conference

Ravello – June 18-21, 2013

Motivation

Economic History meets with Development Economics

QUESTIONS ANSWERS

① How did living standards change during the secular process of Italy’s economic development?

② Who benefited from economic development in Italy, and by how much?

“In ricchezza e in povertà”Table of Contents

PART I Non-monetary Indicators

1) Nutrition

2) Heights

3) Health

4) Child Labor

5) Education

PART IIMonetary Indicators

6) Income

7) Inequality

8) Poverty

9) Vulnerability

PART IIITools

10) Household Budgets

11) Spatial Cost-of-Living Indices

Daily calorie availability per person, 1861-2011

5

The demographic structure of the Italian population, 1861 and 2011

6

Calorie requirement, 1861-2011

7

Well-fed, on average. What about those under average?

8

AVERAGE KCAL INTAKE

KCAL REQUIREMENT

UNDERNUTRITION(%)

Undernutrition in Italy, 1861-2011

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Diet composition, 1861-2011

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Thank you for your attention!

(In case you missed the first slide)

giovanni.vecchi@uniroma2.it

Who eats more than the Italians? Calorie distribution in the world, 1930s-2000s

1934-38 (76 countries)

1961-63 (144 countries)

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