My thesis is a study of finance and industrialization in Italy between 1894 and 1914. Alexander Gerschenkron has argued that the years between 1896 and 1908 in Italy were the years of her “big spurt,” basing his analysis largely on an index of industrial production which he prepared for the period 1881-1913. In many cases the value of output was estimated by the value of inputs; in these instances, value added by industry was understated. In a number of instances the data problems were such that the estimates were very crude approximations of actual production. Nevertheless, when these indexes are combined with other available data on Italian industrial development, the years 1894-1914 stand out as the period during which the nation created her industrial base; only the expansion of the post-World War II years exceeded the growth rates achieved during this period.

The thesis is an economic study of Louisiana's banking and financial system from the chartering of the first bank in 1804 to the Civil War. Primary attention is focused on the chartered banks, and on the years after the mid 1820's. This emphasis results in part from the limitations of available evidence but also from a belief that the chartered bank was the most important financial institution and that the major development of the Louisiana economy occurred after 1820. The study moves from an examination of the internal structure of the banking system itself to its setting in the state and worldwide financial system, its relations to government policy, and finally to the role of the financial system in the fluctuations and developmental patterns in the larger economy.

It is well known that foreign capital was very important in Russian industry before the revolution. Various investigators have attempted to quantify this foreign investment by industry and nationality; according to the most generally reproduced estimate, almost one third of the total capital of all industrial corporations operating in Russia was held by foreigners in 1914. These statistical studies, which sum up much of our present knowledge of foreign enterprise in Russia, are set forth in the introductory chapters.

The point of departure of this dissertation is the observation that, over the entire period for which statistics are available, regional differences in income per capita in Canada have remained unchanged. Five commonly recognized regions of the country are considered: the Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairie Provinces, and British Columbia. Official statistical series show that the relative levels of income per capita in the five regions have been about the same in recent years as in the late 1920's, when the series begins. In a world of continuous change there may be no single expected trend of regional income differentials, but convergence does seem to be a common pattern among the industrially advanced nations of the world.2 The Canadian experience is sufficiently interesting to call for further examination. The dissertation summarized here begins this examination in two ways: estimates of regional per capita income are made for some years prior to the beginning of the official series and a preliminary examination of some important factors influencing regional income differences is begun.