Methodology, Theory and Inquiry in Italian Economic and Social Thought: the Making of Francesco Coletti

During the first decades of the 20th century, Italian economist Francesco Coletti (1866-1940) was recognized as an authority on emigration and agricultural economics. We intend to focus here on Coletti’s early career to understand how he rapidly managed to secure an enviable reputation. We examine Coletti’s interventions on economic semiology and measurement of national wealth. We then move on to a series of theoretical debates (notably on Marx’s theory of value) to which Coletti made significant contributions. Finally, we survey Coletti’s fieldwork in agriculture and emigration, topics that allowed for connecting theoretical issues, methodological constraints and empirical data.