Generating well-being and efficiency: Evidence from Italy

The paper aims to shed light on the geography of well-being in Italian regions and explain the distance of a given region from an efficiency frontier. We build a composite regional well-being index over the period 2010–2015. Then using the index as output, we estimate a well-being generating function to rank Italian regions in terms of efficiency in attaining well-being. The rankings confirm the divide between Northern and Southern regions as regards overall well-being and efficiency. Our findings indicate that regions more dependent on external financing achieve lower efficiency scores. Current failures should not be used to reinforce selfish localism; they should rather stimulate the search for more effective policies to reduce disparities