bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
La qualitŕ del lavoro in Italia: evidenza empirica dalla Terza Indagine Isfol-Qdl
Authors: Centra Marco , Curtarelli Maurizio , Gualtieri Valentina
Published: June 2021

Il contributo illustra un quadro d'insieme dei principali risultati della Terza Indagine sulla Qualitŕ del lavoro in Italia realizzata dall'Isfol, preceduto dal quadro teorico di riferimento, dalla metodologia di operazionalizzazione del concetto di qualitŕ del lavoro e dalle principali caratteristiche dell'indagine. I risultati vengono esposti in riferimento alle dimensioni in cui č stato articolato il concetto di qualitŕ del lavoro. La qualitŕ del lavoro in Italia č infatti investigata in relazione ad ambiti dimensionali, ovvero attraverso gruppi omogenei di indicatori. Da tale esercizio non emerge un ranking di lavori in base alla loro qualitŕ generale, ma una mappatura di situazioni lavorative differenziate e correlate con diversi livelli di qualitŕ nelle specifiche dimensioni considerate.
La qualitŕ dell'occupazione e del lavoro. Lo ‘stato' della ricerca in Belgio
Authors: Martinez Esteban
Published: June 2021

L'articolo espone la natura polisemica ed evolutiva del concetto di "qualitŕ del lavoro", sia nel contesto delle politiche occupazionali pubbliche che della ricerca scientifica. Valutare la qualitŕ del lavoro puň, da un lato, fornire le basi per un programma di ricerca che critichi i cambiamenti nell'organizzazione del lavoro, orientati verso la flessibilitŕ, e le tendenze nella strategia europea per l'occupazione, concentrate sull'aumento incondizionato dei tassi di occupazione. Quando la si interpreta attraverso la - riduttiva - prospettiva di flexicurity, questa valutazio- ne puň, d'altra parte, oscurare quei fattori esplicativi di organizzazione del lavoro e di azione pubblica che provocano lavoro precario, un indebolimento del sistema di relazioni industriali e un deterioramento delle condizioni di vita e di lavoro.
Di cosa ci parlano i contadini, oggi?
Authors: Borghi Vando
Published: June 2021

Il paper č sostanzialmente diviso in tre parti. Nella prima vengono richiamate le ragioni per cui č attualmente importante rimettere il rapporto tra terra e lavoro al centro delle analisi del capitalismo contemporaneo e sono rapidamente delineate alcune caratteristiche chiave di quest'ultimo. Nella seconda, sono introdotte alcune delle principali questioni in gioco nell'analisi del rapporto tra terra e lavoro e viene accennato al modo in cui esse sono affrontate nei diversi contributi raccolti nella rivista. Infine, si mostra come le questioni fin qui indicate chiamino in causa i temi dell'agency del lavoro, in termini di forme della rappresentanza (sociale, politica, sindacale) e di contro-movimento, di "capacitŕ di aspirare" degli individui e di "giustizia cognitiva".
Questioni agrarie o questioni del lavoro? La questione agraria e la sua irrilevanza per il lavoro rurale nell'India neo-liberista
Authors: Lerche Jens
Published: June 2021

Fra gli economisti politici classici, Terry Byres sostiene che una transizione agraria di successo conduce a uno sviluppo capitalista nazionale dinamico e che tali transizioni sono il risultato di specifiche lotte agrarie di classe. Decenni di sviluppo neo-liberista hanno mosso varie sfide a questa posizione, tra cui la visione che oggi la lotta č tra il "regime alimentare internazionale" e i contadini "come gruppo unificato". Un'altra posizione č quella di Henry Bernstein il quale sostiene che, per il capitale, una transizione agraria a livello nazionale non č piů necessaria né possibile. Il saggio indaga questa discussione in relazione all'India, attraverso l'analisi sia del dibattito riguardante l'economia politica agraria in India sia lo sviluppo agrario del paese oggi. La conclusione č che, mentre lo sviluppo capitalista ha avuto luogo nell'agricoltura indiana, a questo non si č aggiunta una transizione agraria di successo che č effettivamente stata superata in molte parti del paese, almeno nell'immediato futuro.
Transizione agraria mancata e sotto-consumo in Africa
Authors: Moyo Sam
Published: June 2021

La trasformazione agraria in Africa non č riuscita a causa di una combinazione di fattori, tra cui l'alienazione della terra che si č verificata soprattutto nell'Africa dei settler, e sta crescendo altrove, e il super-sfruttamento del lavoro agricolo nelle economie contadine dell'Africa non settler. Negli anni sessanta, l'alienazione dei terreni č stata interrotta, ma la cattiva integrazione del continente nel sistema capitalista mondiale ineguale, in particolare il sistema alimentare mondiale, č cresciuta sotto il neoliberismo dagli anni ottanta. Gli errori nelle politiche di aggiustamento si sono intensificati dopo la recente crisi finanziaria mondiale portando a un aumento di privatizzazioni e concentrazione dei terreni agricoli, anche sotto il controllo del capitale straniero. La persistenza della produzione di beni agricoli per l'esportazione ha minato la produzione alimentare per il consumo locale, mentre gli investimenti pubblici nelle tecnologie agricole sono diminuite. L'alternativa della sovranitŕ alimentare centrata su piccoli produttori autonomi richiede un intervento significativo dello stato e lo sviluppo del capitale umano, per ristrutturare il sistema alimentare e per migliorare la protezione dei consumatori e del commercio. Il caso dello Zimbabwe viene presentato come esempio di resistenza agraria al neoliberismo.
Cooperazione, competizione o co-opetizione? Evidenze empiriche nel settore della sanitŕ
Authors: Cicchetti Americo , Mascia Daniele , Pallotti Francesca , Lomi Alessandro
Published: June 2021

- Extant research on interorganizational relationships has generally considered the propensity of organizations to collaborate and interorganizational rivalry as antithetic behaviours. In this paper we try to reconcile apparently contentious theoretical views on the relationship between interorganizational collaboration and competition, and propose a model that predicts the existence of a non-monotonic effect of similarity in resource dependence profiles on the propensity of interdependent organizations to collaborate and exchange resources. We test our theoretical argument by using data that we have collected on 91 health care organizations serving more than five million residents in one of the largest Italian geographical regions. Controlling for firm-specific resource complementarities and for differences in organizational forms, behavioural orientations and institutional constraints, we provide empirical support to our predictions. We discuss how this result may help to improve our ability to predict the network structure of organizational communities from the observation of individual exchange relations.

Keywords: Competition, cooperation, organizational network, niche overlap.
La rigenerazione e innovazione delle organizzazioni come questione nazionale Italia, crisi e progetto
Authors: Butera Federico
Published: June 2021

The economic crisis in Italy, as in Europe, affects heavily private companies and Public Administrations. In a few cases, however, organizations displayed an admirable capability of coping, due to innovation in design and management. An Italian Way of Doing industry is emerging. The paper advocates a new stream of policy oriented researches about cases and new paradigms Italian production system and Public Administration made in cooperation among institutions, universities, companies, associations: the basis for a new industrial policy. Collaborative projects of innovation and change management in specific companies and administrations should be fostered and supported, by developing best cases, new paradigms and communities of innovators. Innovation and changes in the organization may have a relevant impact upon macro dimensions of economy. Our society of organizations requires to all of them an improved capacity for coping dramatic changes. On the other hand, new forms of organizations may have a decisive impact on productivity and regulation. New products and services, new processes and a new model of consumption are part of a destructive creation that should be managed. The proposal is to cope the crisis by raising a strong scientific, cultural, professional movement oriented to invent a regenerate organization in private and public sector. Criteria drawn by our recent research are suggested. An agenda includes research and actions and the following areas of design and development: networks of territories and enterprises opened to the international market; integral enterprises as a basis of the Italian Way of Doing Industry; Public Administrations doing more with less; high reliability organizations; sustainable organizations; organization for social defence; new model of consumption; enterprises web 2.0.; broad professions.
Corpi in interazione in ambienti di lavoro tecnologicamente densi
Authors: Alby Francesca
Published: June 2021

Nello studio dell'interazione sociale e delle dinamiche organizzative, il corpo ha storicamente ricevuto un'attenzione marginale rispetto a quella data al discorso. Anche per questo, motivo e in linea con tendenze piů recenti, questo articolo prende in esame soprattutto il contributo dei movimenti corporei allo sviluppo dell'azione sociale e organizzativa. In particolare, verrŕ analizzato empiricamente in che modo la postura e il posizionamento corporeo possano essere utili risorse nel lavoro di gruppo, e, piů in generale, nel mantenimento di un'azione collettiva rapida e coordinata. Il lavoro ha diversi riferimenti teorici che vengono delineati nella prate introduttiva e utilizzati nell'analisi dei dati. In primo luogo un recente volume edito da Streeck, Goodwin e LeBaron (2011), che sistematizza e raccoglie i risultati di una linea di ricerca sviluppatasi gradualmente nelle quattro decadi passate e che gli autori chiamano embodied interaction. In secondo luogo, il riferimento č al contributo di due programmi di ricerca interdisciplinari, parzialmente sovrapposti: gli studi sul lavoro e sulle pratiche lavorative mediate da tecnologie (studi di ergonomia sociale: Mantovani, 2000; workplace studies: Luff, Hindmarsh e Heath, 2000 e in italiano: Zucchermaglio e Alby, 2005; Parolin, 2008; practice-based studies: Bruni e Gherardi, 2007), e gli studi sulla scienza e sulla tecnologia (science and technology studies ad esempio: Lynch e Woolgar, 1988 e, in italiano: Viteritti, 2011). L'analisi si basa su videoregistrazioni del lavoro di web designer all'interno di un'azienda con sede a Roma, azienda che si occupa di sviluppare e mantenere un portale internet. I risultati discussi nell'analisi empirica riguardano in particolare: a) come entrare e uscire dal gruppo: vengono analizzati alcuni dei meccanismi di coordinamento corporeo che rendono fluido l'ingresso e l'uscita dai gruppi di lavoro; b) come costruire il ritmo dell'interazione: i dati illustrano come in questo tipo di ambienti ad alta densitŕ tecnologica agenti umani e non umani interagiscano (nelle modalitŕ che vengono descritte) nel costruire il ritmo dell'interazione e dell'azione; c) come animare rappresentazioni statiche: viene mostrato come i web designer usino il loro corpo per animare rappresentazioni statiche dei siti internet che devono progettare rendendo visibili e condivisi processi di immaginazione congiunta assolutamente centrali per l'attivitŕ lavorativa in corso.
Innovazione organizzativa nei servizi di Giustizia per il Cittadino: il caso della Volontaria Giurisdizione
Authors: Di Guardo Sebastiano
Published: June 2021

L'articolo approfondisce il tema dell'innovazione organizzativa della Volontaria Giurisdizione, un istituto giuridico dell'ordinamento civile italiano che riguarda, tra le varie materie, le misure di protezione giuridica a favore delle persone disabili e degli anziani e che si svolge, perlopiů, senza intermediazione legale. In questo lavoro viene presentato il caso del progetto di cambiamento organizzativo del Tribunale di Monza. Si tratta di un caso di riprogettazione radicale dei processi interistituzionali di tutela giuridica e dei sistemi di erogazione dei servizi avvenuto con una grande partecipazione degli organi di governo dell'organizzazione, dei professionisti coinvolti, delle istituzioni e del territorio locale. Risultati tangibili sono stati l'abbattimento dei tempi di processo, la riduzione dei tempi di attesa per i Cittadini, l'eliminazione di attivitŕ banali con conseguente concentrazione su quelle piů critiche. I risultati socio-organizzativi sono stati la maggiore cooperazione tra giudici e cancellieri nell'interesse dell'ottimizzazione dei processi di lavoro, la sperimentazione di un partneriato tra Tribunale e Territorio per andare incontro ai bisogni espressi dalla Cittadinanza e la sperimentazione di un modello di cambiamento strutturale che č avvenuto anche senza nuove leggi o risorse aggiuntive.
L'effetto dei legami positivi e negativi sulle prestazioni sportive
Authors: D'Ovidio Fabrizio
Published: June 2021

L'assunto teorico dell'indagine condotta si basa sull'influenza agita sulle prestazioni dalle relazioni instaurate tra i membri di squadre sportive. L'impiego della Social Network Analysis (SNA) in questo contesto di studio si rende estremamente pertinente, dato che le squadre sportive presentano confini netti, costituiscono gruppi di soggetti ben definiti (reticoli completi), generano misure di outcome facilmente misurabili e l'efficacia dell'interdipendenza tra i propri membri produce un impatto diretto sulle performance (Lusher et al., 2010). L'unitŕ di analisi č costituita dai match disputati dalle squadre campionate, appartenenti a quattro specialitŕ sportive (pallacanestro, pallavolo, pallamano e pallanuoto) e distinti livelli di intensitŕ agonistica (dalla massima serie al dilettantismo). Attraverso gli strumenti della SNA, nell'indagine condotta vengono rilevate le relazioni interpersonali di matrice professionale e amicale: le prime misurano l'intesa di gioco e la reputazione professionale di ciascun giocatore; le seconde catturano quanto spesso gli atleti dichiarano di frequentarsi al di fuori dell'ambiente sportivo. I legami instaurati tra i giocatori vengono inoltre distinti in positivi e negativi. La ricerca si concentra perlopiů sulle relazioni di segno negativo in virtů della teoria dell'asimmetria negativa dei legami, secondo la quale gli eventi negativi stimolano una maggiore attivitŕ fisiologica, affettiva, cognitiva e comportamentale rispetto a quelli positivi o neutri (Labianca e Brass, 2006). Le medie degli indegree centrality dei legami positivi e negativi, e di tipo professionale e amicale, vengono impiegate per predire le performance collettive delle squadre, operativizzate attraverso la differenza standardizzata dei punteggi ottenuti in ciascun match. L'analisi condotta dimostra che l'appartenenza ad una serie agonistica rispetto ad un'altra influenza notevolmente l'effetto dei legami sulle prestazioni: in generale, i legami positivi si rendono premianti in termini di rendimento per le squadre professioniste, mentre quelli negativi risultano ostacolare le performance delle squadre meno professionali. Nello specifico, nelle squadre professioniste le relazioni di antipatia e di ostilitŕ tra i giocatori sono neutralizzate dall'osservanza delle regole tecniche in base alle quali essi sono chiamati ad interagire - osservanza che fa tutt'uno con la professionalitŕ loro richiesta, mentre le relazioni di segno positivo si rendono estremamente determinanti. Nel caso delle squadre non professioniste (i cui atleti percepiscono solo modesti vantaggi economici dall'attivitŕ agonistica sportiva), al contrario, i legami negativi tra i giocatori in campo (anche se in media assai meno frequenti che tra i giocatori professionisti) peggiorano sensibilmente i risultati conseguiti, mentre quelli positivi non dimostrano avere alcun effetto significativo.
Le seconde generazioni di fronte alla precarizzazione e all'etnicizzazione del lavoro in Francia
Authors: Roulleau-Berger Laurence
Published: June 2021

- This article examines the situation of immigrant young generations in France, with a specific focus on their process of insertion in the labour market. As it emerges from different sources, this process can be influenced both by ethnic forms of discrimination and by precarious employment. The biographical paths of the second generation testifies on one hand the fragmentation and the ethnic stratification of the labour market, while on the other economic issues are entrenched, with the multiplication of the spaces of transnational trade and its related factors. The main opportunities available for the second generation, at a local level, relate to trajectories of ethnic enclaves or ethnic niches and to the access to selected forms of employments, mainly as care-workers. However, some groups are able to start up ethnic transnational businesses. Consequently, against a background characterised by globalisation and uncertainty, only some individuals succeed in managing a process of globalized individualization. Keywords: Labour Market, Immigration in France, Second Generation, Discrimination.
Nuovi italiani. Forme di identificazione tra i figli di immigrati inseriti nella scuola superiore
Authors: Leonini Luisa , Colombo Enzo , Rebughini Paola
Published: June 2021

- This article discusses the future of the second and third generations in Italy by developing a generational perspective. Through the adoption of a constructionist theoretical approach, informed by works on globalization and the new social movements, it tries to advance beyond the limits of theories and observations at time of fordism, based on concepts of either assimilation or integration. The paper presents an on-going research on students of foreign origins who attend high schools in Milan. By doing so, it focuses on the specificity of the Italian situation and it highlights new and innovative forms of identification, as they are changing alongside current ideas of belonging, membership, citizenship and difference. Hence, the actual experience of the second and third generations, and their new forms of identification, emerge as a useful starting point to understand some peculiarities of the contemporary world. Keywords: Second Generation, Social Movements, Social Integration, Immigration in Italy, Education.
Secolarizzazione ed "Exclusive humanism" in Charles Taylor
Authors: Allodi Leonardo
Published: June 2021

- The aim of this essay is to examine the theory of secularisation process developed by Charles Taylor in his work, "A Secular Age". With this work an ambitious project is pursued: to offer a new point of view by which to construct a different image of secularisation. Taylor wants to understand the new socio-cultural conditions in which the moral and spiritual search of believers and non-believers develops. The process of modernisation of Western societies, in fact, has not only produced conceptions that are hostile to religion (jacobinism, marxism, anarchism) and conditions which have often made many of the old religious practices impossible, but have also led to creative adaptations of religious experience to the changed sociological conditions. The history of secularisation therefore demonstrates the "improbability" that autonomous religious aspiration has disappeared. Even in the framework of a secular society, religion represents an "anthropological universal". Taylor's theory of secularisation presents a notable affinity with all those theories which refute any form of sociological or biological reductionism, assuming the original nature of the religious phenomenon.

Keywords: exclusive humanism, secularization, neutralization, religion, modernity
Per una comprensione non ideologica della laicitŕ
Authors: Aparecida Ferrari Maria
Published: June 2021

- The aim of this essay is to argue a new thesis about the conception of the rightful autonomy of the political or civil sphere from that of religion and the Church. On the one hand, the relations between politics and religion are decided following the principle of autonomy, understood as a theoretical and practical affirmation of the autonomy of both spheres; autonomy supported by reciprocal collaboration in the service of the person. The secular State is a State of reason, grounded on rights and duties and on relations that do not oppose to religion, recognised as one of the multiple reality that constitute the public sphere. On the other hand, it is important to discern two different propositions of autonomy in the modern context. The first is marked with a hostile openness towards religion and a second, which is attentive to dialogue with it. The reason for this dichotomy has been caused by misunderstanding democratic reality, which are possible to solve with a double discernment: in what sense are all the people the foundation of political sovereignty? And which is the democratic value of ethic pluralism? Popular sovereignty becomes real when there is an effective respect of the inviolable nature of a several goods of the human person, beyond the different interests of the State or of the majority. Pluralism, when it is severed from the ethic of indifference and it is not relegated to private life, is another barrier in the face of the ambition of the State.

Keywords: laicality, laicism, democracy, sovereignty, pluralism
Una rivisitazione dell'analisi dinamica della povertŕ: dal metodo alla sostanza. Lo sviluppo della ricerca longitudinale nel Regno Unito
Authors: Alcock Pete , MacKay Stephen
Published: June 2021

- The benefits of a longitudinal or dynamic approach to research are now widely accepted. In recent years, the availability of such data continues to improve, covering administrative based sources (including population registers) as well as sample surveys. Further features of this research field include; (a) a growing recognition of the usefulness of qualitative approaches to the collection and analysis of longitudinal data, and (b) an emphasis on the policy implications from longitudinal analysis given analysts' increased familiarity with the technical challenges posed by such data. Theoretical developments have examined the concept of ‘resilience', and continue to address questions of structure and agency and the unfolding of differentiated life-courses.
Le povertŕ delle classi medie e dei "ceti popolari"
Authors: Siza Remo
Published: June 2021

- Several studies carried out using a dynamic approach show that poverty, although at different degrees of intensity and duration, is no longer an issue concerning only a defined portion of the population living in typically disadvantaged circumstances (e.g. in deprived areas), but is increasingly affecting other social classes that would normally benefit from adequate living conditions, including the growing poorer middle class and those with insecure or low paid jobs. We are not just referring to socially isolated groups of people, but to an intermediate heterogeneous social area, a dissimilar aggregate of individuals experiencing different trajectories of social mobility: members of the impoverished middle class, low income families reduced to poverty by different life events, people with unstable jobs and inadequate family and social support. Although with a different background, they have in common a more lasting precarious condition and a higher risk of poverty compared to other members of the middle class who can rely on better incomes and stronger social support and to the wealthier social classes. These social groups share, at least for a short period of their life, very difficult living conditions potentially affecting several aspects of their existence and limited resources to rely upon to sustain their life projects.
Disabilitŕ e tipologie familiari: note dal Regno Unito per la comprensione delle dinamiche familiari della povertŕ
Authors: McKay Stephen , Clarke Harriet
Published: June 2021

- There is limited evidence concerning the effect of impairment and disability experiences on the dynamics of family forms. We can summarise, from large cross-sectional data including the 2001 Census, that having a disability is associated with lower rates of marriage, controlling for age, and having fewer children. Some impairments appear to have very large effects. Our analysis then draws on longitudinal data from BHPS and FACS and suggests that for some disabled people there are significant barriers in accessing partnerships and parenting. This increased likelihood of lone parenting amongst disabled adults and parents of disabled children is of note in relation to a range of policy areas, including maternal employment, care (including parenting), child care and economic well-being. Our analysis also considers movements into and out of poverty; some of the effects of disability occur through a higher risk of poverty, but there remain effects attributable specifically to disability.
Capitale sociale e costruzione del bene comune: dal capitale sociale etico alla socializzazione dell'economia
Authors: Vigliarolo Francesco
Published: June 2021

The following article attempts to highlight that not all types of social capital can produce a Common Good, indeed, some are placed in opposite directions to this goal. In this direction it attempts to extrapolate the features that social capital should possess in order to create common well-being rooted and widespread. The author will retrace the main definitions of the concept dealing with the internal tension between "self-interest and collective one". Through the phenomenology of Alfred Schütz, as a basis for the construction of knowledge, he proposes the developmental dimension in which this tension may dissolve, and at the same time, the possible features that social capital should have to produce a Common Good. This kind of social capital is called ethics, in the meaning of potentially universal and essential to the identities of peoples of whole humanity, conceived as related. We can observe how this social capital produce and empower continuously ethical heritage of the peoples needed to generate life in the long time. This process is summarized in what is called the Socialization of the economy.
Spazio architettonico, spazio sociale e benessere familiare. Una analisi esplorativa
Authors: Marrone Vincenzo
Published: June 2021

What are the roles of home and neighbourhood on the family wellbeing experience? In which extent the urban-architectural space influences the social cohesion constitution? Starting from a survey conducted in two similar planned neighbourhoods, the paper shows that the physical spaces could create most opportunity about informal exchanges, family and individual ease. In one of the two settlements is present an inhabitant organization that takes care about the collective areas. So, comparing this two neighbourhoods we can see that this organization increases the social relation opportunities within the physic space. The neighbourhood relations also change in quality, frequency and distance. The reciprocity is the principal mean about the constitution of the internal community cohesion and it also creates - in people - an openness and trust attitude that goes beyond the neighbourhood boundaries.
Il giovane Alberto Beneduce: gli anni della formazione intellettuale tra la politica e le aspirazioni accademiche (1904-1911)
Authors: Pitzalis Andrea
Published: June 2021

- Alberto Beneduce (Caserta, May 29 th 1877 - Rome, April 26 th 1944), politician and an economist, but also also administrator of important government firms, often from himself conceived and created, in pre-republican Italy. Besides being managing director of the INA and the first president of IRI, he was also minister and deputy. The purpose of the paper is to enlighten the link between theoretical training and administrative action, often denied or minimized in the historical debate, by investigating the roots of the economic thought of great figures of manager or public administrators as in the specific case of Beneduce.

JEL classification: B310; H700; N440.

Keywords: Italian economic thought; Political Economy; Economic history; Beneduce; Montemartini; Walras.
Spanish Economists Facing Indicative Planning in the 1960s
Authors: Ramos-Gorostiza José Luis , Pires-Jiménez Luis
Published: June 2021

- In this paper, the history of the adoption of the French indicative planning in Spain will be examined. Specific attention is given to the ideas of Higinio Paris at the end of the 1940s and to the ideas of Manuel de Torres in the 1950s, as well as to institutions like the Consejo de Economía Nacional or to the development of the first input-output tables and the first national accounts. Second, the support that the new instrument of economic policy in Spain had at the beginning of the 1960s will be analyzed, including the effective rhetoric that helped to implement it. Lastly, the guarded optimism with which Spanish economists from that time greeted the I Development Plan is shown, a plan which suffered for an increasingly disapproving attitude from the middle of the 1960s. Displaying a notable capacity of analysis, Spanish economists were able to anticipate a large part of the critical arguments that are today employed by economic historians in light of the development planning.

JEL classification: B 20.

Keywords: Economic planning; History of economic thought, Spain; Indicative planning.
Keynes and the Welfare State
Authors: Backhouse Roger E. , Bateman Bradley W.
Published: June 2021

This paper considers the question of what influence J.M. Keynes had on the evolution of the welfare state after the Second World War. First it weighs whether his non-utilitarian approach to economic theory and welfare measurement had an impact on the growth of the welfare state. Then it considers whether the influence came through Keynes's advocacy of deficit spending. After rejecting both of these explanations the role of full employment in sustaining the welfare state is weighed. The paper concludes with a consideration of what might be necessary in preserving the welfare state in the face of the recent financial crisis and the sovereign debt crises that have emerged subsequent to the crisis.
Technological Effects on Wages and Labour: Classical and Neoclassical Ideas
Authors: Karayiannis Anastassios D. , Katselidis Ioannis A.
Published: June 2021

The introduction of new technology may have significant effects on the level of employment and the real wage rate; effects that have received considerable attention even from the economic thinkers of the classical period. This paper aims to analyze and evaluate the various views and arguments of early classical and neoclassical economists concerning the technological effects on wages and employment. On the one hand, the economists of the early decades of the 19th century (mainly between 1800 and 1840) had recognized and analyzed many of the effects of technology on labourers' welfare. On the other hand, early neoclassical theorists of the period between 1890 and 1935 tried to expand on the classical views and to develop their own theoretical arguments, based on new perceptions like the marginal productivity theory. The main conclusion drawn is that most of early classical and neoclassical economists recognized and specified the temporary adverse effects of new technology on labour (e.g. short-run unemployment), but, at the same time, they argued for the beneficial long-run consequences of technological progress on labourers' welfare.
Scitovsky's Theory of Well-being
Authors: Pugno Maurizio
Published: June 2021

Scitovsky laid the foundations for a new theory of people's well-being in his 1976 book The Joyless Economy. This paper, after a reconstruction of Scitovsky's analysis throughout the book and his related writings, shows that supporting evidence can be found in recent economic and psychology literature. Secondly, the paper shows how Scitovsky's theory helps understand the partial nature of economic welfare with respect to human welfare, and the widening gap between the two, which is also recently known in the version given by Easterlin. Thirdly, the paper proposes reconciliation, based on Scitovsky's theory, between the hedonic and eudaimonic approach to happiness, recently taken up, respectively, by Kahneman and Sen.
A Joyful Economist. Scitovsky's Memoirs
Authors: Bianchi Marina
Published: June 2021

Few economists choose to write memoirs, and of those who do most adopt the "logic of my contributionsŁ approach. Tibor Scitovsky, Hungarian-born theorist who spent most of his career at Stanford and Berkeley, instead left us unpublished recollections, many of his childhood, others bearing on his personal philosophy (and shift therein) - of teaching, of the role of economic theory, of its imperfections. By their nature these Memoirs give us glimpses into his nimble, original thinking, without being weighed down with considerations of priority, answering critics, and so on. The paper tries to capture this spirit, frequently in Scitovsky's own words.
Competition and Justice in the Works of Adolphe Landry and Léon Walras
Authors: Baldin Claire , Ragni Ludovic , Romani Paul-Marie
Published: June 2021

This article revisits the reasons why Leon Walras did not give enough consideration to the economic and social analysis of Adolphe Landry. Both were fervent defenders of socialism and their recommendations for social economics are based on thorough economic analysis. We show that Walras did not evaluate Landry's work fairly because of various methodological inconsistencies and different assessments of the forms of competition and resulting rules related to distributive justice.
Adolphe Landry and Irving Fisher on Circulation and Interest
Authors: Dimand Robert W.
Published: June 2021

In the two decades before World War I, Irving Fisher and his French contemporary Adolphe Landry presented and extended Boehm-Bawerk's theory capital and interest, although both of them criticized Boehm-Bawerk's concept of an average period of production. They analyzed each other's work on interest theory in books reviews and books. They both attempted to construct an operationally meaninful version of the quantity theory of money, with Fisher building explicitly on early studies by Landry and Pierre des Essars in France and by Edwin Kemmerer and David Kinley in the US.
Ritorno a Likert. Verso una survey discorsiva
Authors: Gobo Giampietro
Published: June 2021

- For decades, the dilemma between open-ended and closed-ended response alternatives occupied the methodological debate. Over the years, dominant approaches in survey have reacted to this dilemma by opting for fixed response alternatives and the standardization of interviewer's behaviour. If this methodological decision has been the survey's fortune, making it the methodology most widely used in the social sciences, however it produces a large amount of biases well known in the literature. In order to re- medy these biases an alternative proposal can be designed by re-discovering and adapting two «old» proposals: Likert's technique called «fixed question/free answers», and Galtung's procedure named «open question/closed answer». Both procedures are guided by the same principle: make the interview into a conversation, let the interviewee answer freely in his/her own words, and thus release him/her from the researcher's schemes.
Elogio della vaghezza Riflessione quasi epistemologica sul tempo presente
Authors: Campelli Enzo
Published: June 2021

- Numerous forms of vagueness and indeterminateness characterize linguistic interaction of daily life, as well as conceptualization and language of the social sciences. This is a problem that logicians and philosophers of science and language have faced repeatedly, in the attempt to eliminate this undesirable trait or limit the damage caused to the achievement of truth. Endeavoring to overturn this perspective, the essay aims to show the fertility and productiveness of this insurmountable margin of vagueness, both from a point of view of scientific creation and from that of safeguarding the fundamental critical state of thought and knowledge.
La qualitŕ della vita a Roma: fattori ambientali, socio-economici e psico-sociali
Authors: Bonciani Manila
Published: June 2021

- This contribution lies in the opening between the interest of social research for a deeper understanding of phenomena tied to the quality of life, and the need to intervene in public health as well as identify priority areas of action for the promotion of peoples' health and quality of life. The pilot study carried out in Rome in fact aimed to test a survey instrument on the quality of life from a health perspective. It analyzed the interaction between the environmental dimension, the social-economical and the psychosociological ones and their impact on the quality of life of people who live in urban areas. The purpose of this first contribution is to consider what might influence the promotion of wellbeing, in relation to different levels of human action (macro, meso and micro). The results underline a prominent influence of the psycho-sociological dimension on the perception of individual quality of life and a less substantial influence of the socio-economical one. The absence of a relation with the macro factor, which ecological data of the Municipalities of Rome characterizes as an element of urbanization of the territory, needs further investigation. This can be obtained through a sample survey that guarantees the representativeness of the Roman population.
Tra finzione e realtŕ. Contro l'approccio bayesiano al metodo scientifico
Authors: Fabbricatore Ernesto
Published: June 2021

The development of the Bayesian approach to the scientific method represents one of the most suggestive and controversial orientations in modern epistemology. Starting from the assumption that, normally, humans think and operate in uncertain conditions, the Bayesian interpretation aims to identify - on the basis on an appropriate probability of the uncertain - the principles that govern cognitive rationality, practical rationality and the relationship between the two. Though this area of epistemological considerations is particularly rich in intertwined background and foreground components, this contribution will provide the necessary elements to critically understand an approach that is seemingly far from any kind of "rule of correspondence" with empirical reality.
Nota su "Meccanismi invisibili" di Ray Pawson
Authors: Stame Nicoletta
Published: June 2021

This essay is a brief introduction to Ray Pawson's work. His contribution is considered from the viewpoint of the development of the realistic evaluation approach and the in depth study of two pillars: context and mechanism. In particular, the theme of mechanism is addressed in consideration of its broad meaning, and includes mechanisms that at first glance are seemingly counterintuitive, but in fact correspond to the difficult path of program realization
La casualitŕ della casualitŕ. Informazione, probabilitŕ e previsione nell'approccio soggettivista
Authors: Truglia Francesco Giovanni
Published: June 2021

It is now tradition in literature to associate the probabilistic theory to the spread of gambling. Both probability theories and gambling can be seen as one of the consequences of the secularization process that began in the middle of the seventeenth century with the end of the religious wars and invested different areas of private and public life. While statistical and mathematical aspects were formalized in the 1930s, there has not been a systemization at a conceptual level. The issue of how to interpret probability remains open. This essay focuses on the main schools of thought (classic, frequentist, subjectivist and logistic) taking into consideration the historic context in which they developed and the instances they represent. Particular attention is given to subjectivism and to B. de Finetti's work. The last paragraph is dedicated to the Bayesian Theory which represents a way to think of inference, rather than a formula to calculate probability. The essay concludes with two applications of Bayes' Theorem to electoral data of 2008.
Societŕ artificiali. Il caso delle norme
Authors: Conte Rosaria
Published: June 2021

This article is inspired by Joshua Epstein's generativist paradigm, according to which to possibility of explaining a phenomenon and of influencing its process of existence depend on the availability of instruments that can artificially reproduce it, or in other words simulate its «generation». «Agent based simulation » possesses the requirements that enable the development of a similar cognitive program. The essay describes this instrument's characteristics, from the modeling to the cellular automaton used in biology, of which the «agent based simulation» in an exemplary heir. The second part of the article focuses on applications of generative simulation, with reference to the interpretation of interdependant dynamics in complex situations as useful resources for sociological analysis of micro and macro phenomena.
On the Interplay between Extortion and Punishment. An Agent Based Model of "Camorra"
Authors: Sonzogni Barbara , Cecconi Federico , Conte Rosaria
Published: June 2021

This paper presents an Agent-Based Model aimed to reproduce the demographics, economic and employment variables of a Southern Italian region (Campania) where one specific variant of Extortion Racketeering Systems (Erss), camorra, is highly active and prosperous. Preliminary results of a set of simulations show the effects of varying levels of extortion and punishment on the rates of inactivity, employment, etc. of a population of agents endowed with social learning mechanisms
The Impact of Technological Change on Incentive Provision
Authors: Lisciandra Maurizio
Published: June 2021

- The simple trade-off between incentive and risk, which is crucial to the agency problem, is not a sufficient explanation for the ineffectiveness of a specific output-related pay such as the contract system adopted in the US iron and steel industry during the second half of the nineteenth-century. The high rate of technological innovation along with workers' extensive bargaining power made output-related pay a sub-optimal solution. This stylised fact unveils the conflicting nature of piece-rate pay compared to fixed pay as new technology is introduced and stimulates an analysis of the interaction between technological change, bargaining powers, and payment systems which can be conducive to a better understanding of the agency problem and the use of incentive pay. Key words: Incentive Contracts, Inside Contracting, Unions, Technological Change. JEL Classification: J33, J51, N31, O33
Policy Coordination in the Euro Area
Authors: Panico Carlo , Marta Vŕzquez Suŕrez
Published: June 2021

The paper deals with the problems of coordination between monetary and fiscal policies in the Euro area. It examines how the existing institutions handle these problems and how the literature evaluates their working, deriving from these evaluations a proposal to reorganise them. The paper points out that there is a need for coordination between monetary and fiscal policies when both cyclical (short-run) and structural (long-run) problems are dealt with. Then it assesses how coordination is carried out under the existing institutional arrangements and identifies which parts of them, according to the existing literature, are in need of modification. Finally, on the basis of the content of this literature, it formulates a proposal to reform the institutional arrangements and the economic content of the Stability and Growth Pact, which aims at making them work effectively.
Capitale umano dei fondatori, endogeneitŕ del finanziamento pubblico e crescita delle giovani imprese hi-tech italiane
Authors: Ermini Barbara
Published: June 2021

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the determinants of the growth of 510 Italian NTBF during the time span 1990-2001. Firstly, it considers the relation among growth, size and age of firms. Secondly, it focuses on the role that human capital of founders and selective public funds play in determining firm growth addressing the consequences of potential endogeneity of public subsides to human capital of founders. Results show that smaller firms grow quickly. Contrary to common evidence, age impact positively on firm growth; industry-specific characteristics can explain this result. Firm growth is also influenced by those characteristics of founders related to their "vocational" attitude, as proxied by the academical choice, and to their inter-industry work experience. Once correcting for potential endogeneity of public subsides, we demonstrate that they do not favor the growth of NTBFs. There is evidence of self-selection on the access to public subsides by the most capable founders.
Rational Expectations and Economic Policy
Authors: Acocella Nicola
Published: June 2021

The introduction of rational expectations in the 1970s undermined the classical theory of economic policy laid down by Tinbergen, Theil and others. Since then rational expectations are often used as a strong argument against policy activism. However, rational expectations do not always imply policy invariance, although sometimes it happens. In fact, in certain circumstances rational expectations can enhance the policymaker's power to control an economy over time. The new theory of economic policy in a strategic context not only overcomes the Lucas critique, but states the conditions under which policymakers can be fooled by a private sector having rational expectations or, on the contrary, can manage such expectations to enhance their power to control the system.
Households' Portfolio Diversification
Authors: Jappelli Tullio , Julliard Christian , Pagano Marco
Published: June 2021

This paper performs an efficiency analysis of households portfolios based on the comparison of observed portfolios with the mean-variance frontier of assets returns. Data on household portfolios are drawn from a representative sample of the Italian population with at least a bank account. We find that most households' portfolios are extremely close to the efficient frontier once we explicitly take into account no short-selling constraints, while the null hypothesis of efficiency is rejected for all portfolios if we don't consider these constraints.
A Few Advantages of Economic Democracy
Authors: Jossa Bruno
Published: June 2021

The aim of this article is to discuss some of the main advantages of an employeemanaged system: a labour productivity edge on capitalistic businesses, the suppression of external firm control, slower monopoly-building and softer competition, the eclipse of the paramount role of economics in social evolution and a reduced need for state intervention into the economy. The author's analysis sheds light on whether, and in what sense, economic democracy is a public good proper or just a "merit good". From the classification of cooperative as merit goods it follows that any government, regardless of political-economic orientation, should make it its task to support the growth of the democratic firm system by enforcing tax or credit benefits in its favour.
Economics or Political Economy? Marshall and Pareto as Mill's Heirs
Authors: Zanni Alberto
Published: June 2021

The a. intends to demonstrate that Marshall and Pareto are descendants of S. Mill's social science. To this end, he starts by answering a question neglected by experts on Marshall: Alfred and Mary Paley Marshall adopted "Economics" instead of "Political Economy" going on the basis of the "fundamental theorem of political science" legible in Mill's System of Logic. As far as Pareto is concerned, the a. holds that: a) his maximum of utility in Sociology is as well tied to that "fundamental theorem" of Mill; b) Pareto had fully recognized his intellectual debt towards Mill. He did so by following a rule he had always respected, except for Cournot. The present essay is one of two the a. commits to two questions: which are Pareto's intellectual debts? Has he always recognized them?
Nota sull'alternativa al capitalismo proposta da Bruno Jossa
Authors: Eugenio Zagari
Published: June 2021

The note is dedicate to comment of recent Bruno Jossa's book on the possibility to find an alternative to capitalism. The Author proposes a form of "market socialism" that realizes the inversion of the power relation between labour and capital. But the thesis of the possible survival of capitalistic market in a economic-social formation dominated by labour managed firms is not fully persuasive.