Territorial inequalities in school accessibility: public and private governance in Italy

vestigates territorial disparities in the infrastructural accessibility of schools for students with disabilities in Italy, highlighting the role of governance structures and management types. We construct a School Infrastructure Accessi-bility Index (SIAI), combining ten physical accessibility features—such as ramps, elevators, and compliant toilets—using a Data Envelopment Analysis-based Benefit of the Doubt (BoD) approach. This index enables comparability across provinces, school levels, and public versus private management. Leveraging data from the Italian National Institute of Statistics (2019–2022), we identify a persistent North–South divide: Northern provinces exhibit higher accessibility supported by stronger institutions and economic resources, while Southern areas suffer from limited pub-lic capacity and lower private investment. Convergence analysis using Phillips and Sul’s club methodology reveals clusters of provinces with diverging improvement trajectories, especially within private schools. Our results confirm two key hypoth-eses: (i) the existence of a territorial dualism in school infrastructure provision and (ii) the presence of systematic variations in accessibility disparities by school level and governance arrangement. Contrary to our expectations, public schools exhibit higher average accessibility than private schools, leading us to reject the hypothesis that private provision is associated with greater accessibility. The findings under-score the need for targeted infrastructure funding, improved regulatory oversight of private institutions, and reinforced local governance to ensure equitable access for students with disabilities. By combining static and dynamic approaches, the study offers a novel framework for monitoring territorial inequality and guiding inclusive policy design.