Econometric modelling in Italy : from economic planning to academic research

The paper deals with the introduction and acceptance of econometric modelling as a tool to conduct economic policy analysis in Italy in the Post War. A research practice first applied in public and private institutions other than universities. It is argued that economic planning and policymakers' needs of empirical estimations, simulations and forecasts played an important role in supporting quantitative research, at the time when economics was still conceived as a theoretical discipline. Sylos Labini's (1967) econometric model, the Modellaccio (197075), the University of Bologna model (1976) were the first examples of econometric modelling activities within academia. Only since the late 1980s, also due to a generational change, econometrics is fully accepted and introduced in economics curricula with the discipline that aligned to international standards. [Publisher's text].