I have been concerned with quantitative analysis and its methodology, and with the application of electronic tools for data set collection. I run, in particular, IMITA.db, a large data set on Italian companies in XX century. Recently I have completed, sponsored by Bank of Italy, a large database on Italian foreign trade (1862-1939).
IMITA.db (IMprese ITAliane. Data Base) is the historical archive of the Italian joint stock companies. It represents the digital version of a serial source made of a collection of published volumes, edited from 1908 to 1926 by the Credito Italiano, and then from 1928 by the association of Italian joint stock companies, named “Associazione fra le società italiane per azioni” (Asipa). This source includes all the joint stock companies listed in one of the Italian stock markets, together with all those companies based in Italy, which in their last balance sheet had a company’s capital higher than a given threshold, which was fixed at different levels in different years.
The archives includes data on single companies (identifying information and balance sheet’s figures) and on boards’ members (board of directors and supervisory board) from 1900 to 1983. This project, realized by the University of Siena in collaboration with the Bocconi University in Milano, the University of Bologna and the University of Firenze, has benefited of funds coming from the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) and from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR).
The Bankit-FTV database was developed by Giovanni Federico, Giuseppe Tattara and Michelangelo Vasta in a project supported by Banca d’Italia. The database reports data on Italian trade from 1862 to 1939 and it is based on the very detailed official sources (Movimento Commerciale del Regno d’Italia). Each product has been re-classified according to the SITC Revision 2.0 at 4-digit level. For details see chapter 2 of Federico, Natoli, Tattara and Vasta (2012).
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