Reducing regional inequality was one of the key means of promoting the "harmonious development" within Europe envisioned in the EEC Treaty of 1957. The pursuit of "economic, social and territorial cohesion" through ever closer regional and national harmonisation was also proclaimed in the 2007...

Recent empirical research has questioned the validity of using Malthusian theory in pre-industrial England. Using real wage and vital rate data for the years 1650-1881, I provide empirical estimates for a different region - Northern Italy. The empirical methodology is theoretically underpinned...