The Effect of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic on Income Inequality: Evidence from Italy

39 Pages Posted: 26 Jun 2020 Last revised: 10 Jul 2020

See all articles by Sergio Galletta

Sergio Galletta

ETH Zürich

Tommaso Giommoni

University of Amsterdam - Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB)

Date Written: June 24, 2020

Abstract

In this paper, we estimate the effect of the 1918 Influenza pandemic on income inequality in Italian municipalities. Our identification strategy exploits the exogenous diffusion of influenza across municipalities due to the presence of infected soldiers on leave from World War I operations at the peak of the pandemic. Our measures of income inequality come from newly digitized historical administrative records on Italian taxpayer incomes. We show that in the short-/medium-run (i.e., after five years), income inequality is higher in Italian municipalities more afflicted by the pandemic. The effect is mostly explained by a reduction in the share of income held by poorer people. Finally, we provide initial evidence that these differences in income inequality persist even after a century.

Keywords: Inequality, Spanish Flu, Pandemic, Italy, World War I

JEL Classification: I14, D31, N44

Suggested Citation

Galletta, Sergio and Giommoni, Tommaso, The Effect of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic on Income Inequality: Evidence from Italy (June 24, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3634793 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3634793

Sergio Galletta (Contact Author)

ETH Zürich ( email )

Rämistrasse 101
ZUE F7
Zürich, 8092
Switzerland

Tommaso Giommoni

University of Amsterdam - Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) ( email )

Roetersstraat 11
Amsterdam, 1018 WB
Netherlands

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