This chapter deals with the empirical testing of the potential trade-off between flexibility and productivity growth by using firm-level data. The model of reference relies on various works by Sylos-Labini, The model is estimated on data from the 9th “Indagine sulle imprese manifatturiere”,...

Over the past 20 years, Italy has realised changes in labour legislation, leading to a decentralisation of wage bargaining and increased flexibility in labour relations. Both these factors have helped to curb wage growth and to enhance employment growth, but have also led to a crisis in Italian...

The bulk of contemporary economics assumes rather than explains differences between people or groups of people. Yet, many of these differences are produced by society or they imply differing opportunities and outcomes. This book argues that economists should concern themselves with the...

This note reflects upon the methodological principles that Paolo Sylos Labini (1920-2005) brought to his work as a political economist. Sylos Labini drew upon history, political science, sociology and philosophy in order to explain economic processes, and he insisted that an interdisciplinary...

Marcella Corsi and Kristian Orsini analyse poverty levels in six European countries: Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. They focus on child poverty, taking into account differences in demographic structure, actual redistribution policies towards younger...

Marcella Corsi and her co-workers analyze the social and economic impact that microfinance programmes have on participant's lives, particularly on women in the Mediterranean countries. They identify the changes of the women who took part in the microcredit programme. They examine the consumption...