The chapter restates Tarantelli’s approach to macroeconomic stabilisation and the role of wage bargaining institutions. It also discusses the patterns and variation in the institutional make-up of wage bargaining since 1980, documenting the evolution of the social pacts stipulated in Europe...

The chapter adheres to a school of interpretation which is sceptic with respect to the virtues of neo-corporatism while asserting the several other institutional aspects, referred both to the labour market and the overall economic system that affect the macroeconomic performance. The chapter is...

The chapter analyses the broad picture emerging from the 1993 incomes policy agreement in Italy as well as other policy actions (and omissions). The agreement was successful in producing a remarkable moderation of the relative price of labour - despite the reduction of the user cost of capital...

The chapter deals with the overall impact of the comprehensive incomes policy adopted in Italy in July 1993. The extraordinary merits of the agreement in curbing inflation are recognized, along with some incompleteness (with respect to Ezio Tarantelli’s proposal) in the way on one hand the...

The chapter advocates Lisbon-oriented policies such as an increasing educational attainment and participation in education and training, higher investment in human capital and mobility. However, these supply-side orientated policies must be complemented with measures relating to organisational...

The chapter investigates the effects of the wage determination mechanism based on bargaining and efficiency wages introduced in Italy in 1993. The analysis deals specifically with the productivity effects of the efficiency wage approach and tests the role of different profit sharing schemes...

The chapter claims that monetary authorities’ conservatism is needed to improve the macroeconomic performance, the more so the higher the degree of product market competition. Contrary to a widespread belief, central bank conservatism and market competition are complements, rather than...

The chapter acknowledges the lack of a theory of social dialogue. In spite of this weakness, the author argues that efficient bargaining/Coase theorem can be a valuable ideal for analyzing social dialogue systems like most EU economies, compared to the perfectly functioning competitive model...

Social pacts have long been a centrepiece of European politics. They are characterized by negotiations among government, employers, workers, and other interest groups over wages and other economic issues. With the growth of globalization and pervasiveness of knowledge, some economists have...