Chi guadagna con l'emigrazione : effetti e dimensioni delle rimesse in Italia tra tardo Ottocento e seconda Guerra Mondiale

The article aims to present the current state of knowledge on remittances by Italian emigration. After illustrating the recent economic debate on remittances' effects and the quantitative reconstructions available for Italy, we discuss existing evidence both from a micro and a macroeconomic perspective. Although remittances positively affected living conditions, indebtedness and the educational attainment of receiving households, results at the macroeconomic level are much more controversial, especially in the South, where migrants' transfers were not able to generate widespread growth. [Publisher's text]