The Rise and Decline of the Bank of Italy’s Autonomy between 1893 and 1936. A historical interpretion

Journal title CONTABILITÀ E CULTURA AZIENDALE
Author/s Alessandro Lardo, Rosa Lombardi, Raffaele Trequattrini, Benedetta Cuozzo
Publishing Year 2018 Issue 2018/1
Language English Pages 23 P. 13-35 File size 240 KB
DOI 10.3280/CCA2018-001003
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the autonomy of central banks from a historical perspective, with reference to the founding and development of the Bank of Italy in the period between its inception (1893) and the passing of the Italian Banking Law of 1936. The issue of the autonomy of central banks from governments and budgetary policies has been investigated by several scholars, for whom the degree of autonomy is linked exclusively to factors connected with those wielding power or influence at the time, and factors related to the contingent historical and economic situation. Few studies so far have investigated the causes of the evolution of the degree of autonomy of the central banks, considering this evolution as strictly linked with the process of central state autonomy. The authors aim to investigate the evolution of the Bank of Italy’s level of autonomy in light of Michael Mann’s thinking.

Keywords: Central bank autonomy, central state, Bank of Italy, Michael Mann.

  1. AA.VV. (1993). Ricerche per la storia della Banca d’Italia, vol. IV L’organizzazione della Banca d'Italia dal 1893-1947.
  2. AA.VV. (1993). La Banca d’Italia, 100 anni 1893-1993. Roma: Edizioni dell’Elefante.
  3. Alesina A. and Summers L.H. (1993). Central bank independence and macroeconomic performance: some comparative evidence. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 25(2): 151-162.
  4. Arnone M., Laurens B. and Segalotto J.F. (2006), The measurement of central bank autonomy: Survey of models, indicators, and empirical evidence (No. 6-227). International Monetary Fund.
  5. Belli F. (2004). Legislazione bancaria italiana 1861-2003. Torino: Giappichielli.
  6. Benston G.J. (1986). Perspectives on Safe & Sound Banking: Past, Present, and Future. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
  7. Bigoni M. and Funnell W. (2015). Ancestors of governmentality:Accounting and pastoral power in the 15th century. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 27: 160-176.
  8. Bonelli F. (1991). La Banca d’Italia dal 1894 al 1913. Roma-Bari: Banca d’Italia.
  9. Boylan D.M. (2001). Defusing democracy: Central bank autonomy and the transition from authoritarian rule. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
  10. Carmona S. and Ezzamel M. (2006). Accounting and religion: A historical perspective. Accounting History, 11(2): 117-127.
  11. Cassese S. (1988). Come è nata la Legge bancaria del 1936. Roma: BNL Banca Nazionale del Lavoro.
  12. Clegg S.R. (1989). Framework of power. London: Sage.
  13. Contessa A.M. and Finocchiaro A. (Eds.) (1994). La Banca d’Italia e i problemi della moneta e del credito. Roma: Centro stampa Banca d'Italia.
  14. Cotula F., De Cecco M. and Toniolo G. (Eds.) (2003). La Banca d'Italia: sintesi della ricerca storica, 1893-1960 (Vol. 4). Roma-Bari: Laterza.
  15. Crowe C. and Meade E.E. (2008). Central bank independence and transparency: Evolution and effectiveness. European Journal of Political Economy, 24(4): 763-777.
  16. De Haan J., Amtenbrink F. and Eijffinger S.C. (1999). Accountability of central banks: aspects and quantification. Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Quarterly Review, 52(209): 169.
  17. De Mattia R. (Ed.) (1990). Gli Istituti di emissione in Italia. I tentativi di unificazione 1843-1892. Collana Storica della Banca d’Italia – Documents, Roma-Bari: Laterza.
  18. Ferrari A. (1959). Politica monetaria, evoluzione e aspetti odierni. Milano: Giuffrè.
  19. Foucault M. (1976). Sorvegliare e punire. Nascita della prigione. Torino: Einaudi.
  20. Franzese Jr R.J. (1999). Partially independent central banks, politically responsive governments, and inflation. American Journal of Political Science: 681-706.
  21. Friedman M. (1962). Should there be an independent monetary authority? In search of a monetary constitution: 219-243.
  22. Friedman M. and Mundell R. (2002). Duello monetario sui pregi ei difetti dei tassi di cambio fissi, del gold standard e di una valuta mondiale. Rivista di Politica Economica, 92(4): 9-59.
  23. Giannini C. (2004). L’età delle banche centrali: forme e governo della moneta fiduciaria in una prospettiva istituzionalista (Vol. 616). Bologna: il Mulino.
  24. Goothart C. (1991). L’evoluzione delle banche centrali. Rome-Bari: Laterza.
  25. Guarino G. and Toniolo G. (Eds.) (1993). La Banca d'Italia e il sistema bancario 1919-1936. Roma-Bari: Laterza.
  26. Hopwood A.G. and Miller P. (1994). Accounting as social and institutional practice (Vol. 24). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  27. Jones M.J. (2009). Origins of medieval Exchequer accounting. Accounting, Business and Financial History, 19(3): 259-285.
  28. Leardini C. and Rossi G. (2013). Accounting and power in religious institutions: Verona’s Santa Maria della Scala monastery in the Middle Ages. Accounting History, 18(3): 415-427.
  29. Mann M. (1984). The autonomous power of the state: its origins, mechanisms and results. European Journal of Sociology, 25(2): 185-213.
  30. Mann M. (1986). The sources of social power. A history of power from the beginning to A.D. 1760 (Vol. 1). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  31. Mann M. (1994). The autonomous power of the state: Its origins, mechanisms and results. The State: Critical Concepts: 110-136.
  32. Mann M. (2006). The sources of power revisited: A response to criticism. In J.A. Hall & R. Schroeder (Eds.). An anatomy of power: The social theory of Michael Mann (pp. 343-396). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  33. Masciandaro D. and Ristuccia S. (Eds.) (1988). L’autonomia delle banche centrali. Ivrea: Edizioni di Comunità.
  34. Masciandaro D. (1993). Indipendenza della banca centrale, vigilanza bancaria e stabilità monetaria. Moneta e Credito, 46(184): 527-558.
  35. Negri G. (Ed.) (1989). Giolitti e la nascita della Banca d’Italia nel 1983, Collana Storica della Banca d’Italia – Documenti. Rome-Bari: Laterza.
  36. Padulo G. (2016). Bonaldo Stringher, massone senza matricola e senza numero d'ordine. Le Carte e la Storia, 22(1): 174-178.
  37. Phelps E.S. (1967). Phillips Curves, Expectations of Inflation and Optimal Unemployment over Time. Economica, 34: 254-281.
  38. Polsi A. (2001). Stato e Banca Centrale in Italia. Il governo della moneta e del sistema bancario dall’Ottocento ad oggi. Roma-Bari: Laterza.
  39. Romano S. (1993). La storia nazionale e la Banca d’Italia, in La Banca d’Italia, 100 anni 1893-1993. Roma: Edizioni dell’Elefante.
  40. Smith V.C. (1936). The Rationale of Central Banking. Westminster, England: P.S King & Son Ltd.
  41. Toniolo G. (Ed.) (1989). La Banca d’Italia e l’economia di guerra 1914-1919. Roma-Bari: Laterza.
  42. Veltri G. (2007). L’evoluzione dei poteri della Banca d'Italia dall'Unità al 1936. Rivista di storia finanziaria, 17: 109-162.
  43. Jones M.J. (2010). Sources of power and infrastructural conditions in medieval governmental accounting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 35(1): 81-94.

  • Industry self-regulatory institutions, accounting and imitation mechanisms: the case of the ‘Unione Commercianti in Manifatture di Milano’ Carmelo Marisca, Gustavo Barresi, Nicola Rappazzo, in Accounting History Review /2022 pp.31
    DOI: 10.1080/21552851.2022.2089703
  • Banks and financial institutions in historical perspective Valerio Antonelli, Nieves Carrera, Christopher Napier, in CONTABILITÀ E CULTURA AZIENDALE 1/2018 pp.9
    DOI: 10.3280/CCA2018-001002

Alessandro Lardo, Rosa Lombardi, Raffaele Trequattrini, Benedetta Cuozzo, The Rise and Decline of the Bank of Italy’s Autonomy between 1893 and 1936. A historical interpretion in "CONTABILITÀ E CULTURA AZIENDALE" 1/2018, pp 13-35, DOI: 10.3280/CCA2018-001003