Percorsi di internazionalizzazione a confronto: la statistica ufficiale in Francia e in Italia tra secondo dopoguerra e anni sessanta

The end of the Second World War was a turning point for the official statistical services in many Western countries. In terms of methodological advancement, sampling methods were applied to many research areas (labour force surveys, national accounts, etc.) all around the western world, following the US model. This process was coeval to the advance of the Keynesian paradigm. This paper will compare the French and the Italian official statistical services in the post-war years using published sources. Despite the different economic and institutional context, in both countries the public statistical service had to deal with similar challenges and problems. In both countries a process of significant innovation and internationalization occurred, which coexisted with remnants from the past.