regional policy in southern Italy, through the State-owned agency 'Cassa per il
Mezzogiorno'(1950–1986). The article reconstructs the activities of this agency, making use
of its yearly reports and of national and local archives. The Cassa was effective in the first
two decades, thanks to substantial technical autonomy and, in the 1960s, to a strong focus
on industrial development; however, from the 1970s it progressively became an instrument …