Without the passions there would be little reason to act at all. Nevertheless, in standard economic models human action is driven solely by self-interest: the passions are supposed to interfere with our ability to form rational beliefs and to make rational choices. In fact, any action originated...

Indivisibilities are at the core of economic theory as rarely individuals can or want to limitlessly divide goods, inputs and activities, as well as related economic phenomena such as economies of scale, externalities and public goods. Indivisibilities help in explaining conflicts over social...

Drawing on actual reinterpretation of Mauss’s classical essay on “the Gift”, the authors examine four ideal-typical forms of gift which recur in the anthropologic literature, and theoretically analyze them under relevant contemporary phenomena. Kula - as reciprocity gift-, Potlach – as...

In questo saggio intendiamo discutere la questione del tempo libero nel capitalismo alla luce della problematica della liberazione dal e del lavoro (par. 1). Nel far ciò, dopo aver criticato la concezione dell’essere umano propria della scienza economica, proporremo l’abbozzo di una...

This paper interprets for the fist time the phenomenon of the made in Italy as a collective belief. First, a conceptual framework is proposed for analysing the formation and evolution of collective beliefs, by characterizing precisely the way individuals are expected to behave in this respect....

The aim of this paper is to present some concepts and tools that can help policy makers to design policies for disabled persons. In the first part of the paper the principle of non dominated diversity is considered and the principle of maximum potential presented. In the second part the policy...

The aim of this paper is to enhance the capability framework by building the link between external and collective capabilities. In the first part of the paper we concentrate on human obligation and the “care relationship”. In the second we focus on external capabilities and their connection...

In this paper, we introduce a framework based on the capability approach of Amartya Sen as a base to analyse the concept of disability in a dynamic context for the disabled person. In the first part the base for equality among human beings is discussed and a critical review of disability models...

In this paper we analyse both positive and negative aspects of an emerging civil economy’s district. We consider the problems that arise in two of the principal “third sector” economic activities (the non-profit enterprise and the co-op) and we highlight both advantages and rationality of...

This paper deals with one of the central debates in the recent literature of political economy: the cause-effect relationship between capitalist development and liberal democracy. It is divided into two sections. In the first part, we break away from the idea that democracy can rise anywhere....