Data and Codes for: The Origins of Italian Human Capital Divides: New evidence from Marriage Signatures, ca. 1815

This paper quantitatively assesses to what extent signatures in marriage certificates can inform about literacy rates in the past. The new figures are based on a novel and balanced random sample of marriage certificates for Italy in 1815. Such estimates are compared to all alternative sources available for close years. The interdisciplinary empirical methodology is as important as the results. Two main findings emerge. First, marriage certificates, although recorded from different pre-unitary states, can accurately measure literacy rates only when accompanied by rigorous sampling procedures. Indeed, the proposed empirical approach allows to go from local to aggregate estimates that are in line with other estimates for the period. Second, North vs Centre-South divides in 1815 are lower than previously suggested.