Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on “Labour, productivity and growth”. Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses the articles in the special issue, which investigate the main theme – labour, productivity and growth – from different points...

Purpose – The Saint Valentine's Decree (1984) and the ensuing hard-fought referendum (1985), which reduced the automatisms of scala mobile, started a process of redefinition of wage fixing in Italy, which culminated with the final abolition of scala mobile (1992) and the approval of Protocollo...

Purpose – This purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on vulnerability and discrimination among women, children and ethnic minorities. Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses the articles in the special issue which employ a variety of individual-level data, some of...

Purpose – The paper's aim is to study the determinants of gender differences in early career in Mongolia, one of the 50 poorest countries of the world. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis takes advantage of an ad hoc school to work survey (SWTS) on young people aged 15-29 years...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on “Disadvantaged workers in the labour market” and to draw some policy implications that are common to the studies included in the special issue. Design/methodology/approach – The paper introduces several econometric...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to point to the inefficiency of the Italian educational system as a key factor of persistent differences between the distribution of incomes (skewed) and that of talents (normal), stated in the Pigou paradox. In fact, against the intention assigned to it...

Purpose: The choice of Southern Europe is partly based on the observation that the sample includes a number of countries whose economies faced more severe difficulties than elsewhere in Europe. Economically they were less able to absorb the economic shock posed by COVID-19. It is also partly...

Purpose: There is a long period from completing studies to finding a permanent or temporary (but at least satisfactory) job in all European countries, especially in Mediterranean countries, including Italy. This paper aims to study the determinants of this duration and measure them, for the...