Wealth Inequalities and Population Dynamics in Northern Italy during the Early Modern Period

This article explores the relationship between concentration of wealth and population dynamics in the Early Modern period, focussing on the exceptionally well documented case of the Italian city of Ivrea and placing it in the wider European context. The article tests Van Zanden’s hypothesis that a positive relationship between economic inequality and growth exists before the Industrial Revolution. It finds that concentration and distribution of wealth is very resilient even in face of acute demographic shocks (such as the plague of 1630), and that during 17th Century there is a slow increase in concentration also in areas characterized by economic stagnation.