Interregional redistribution and risk sharing through public budget. The case of Italy in times of crisis (2000–2016)

Abstract

Since the post-war period, large differences in economic performance of Italian regions have brought the public sector to play a predominant role in interregional redistribution and risk sharing. However, the recent Great Crisis may have changed this attitude. The comparison of regional Net Fiscal Flows in the periods 2000–2008 and 2009–2016 shows that in the aftermath of the crisis fiscal policies lost substantial part of their effectiveness in both interregional long-run redistribution and short-run income stabilization. Over time, the role of government in providing support to poorer regions and to areas more severely hit by the economic slump becomes less significant and sometimes even perverse, amplifying rather than counterbalancing regional differences in per capita income and financial capacity.