This paper describes the rebirth of the utilitarian approach, with the social welfare function a là Bentham, after the crisis due to the emergence of the ordinalist microeconomic analysis. It is shown that Vickrey in 1945 had already anticipated the themes developed earlier by Harsanyi and...

The Italian system of economic support for those on low incomes and for families is among the least effective in Europe. Its incoherent nature is shown by very large jumps in implicit marginal tax rates (taxation + family benefits). Italy needs a comprehensive reform of the treatment of income...

Economists have a poor understanding of the mechanisms underlying reduced-form college peer effects. In this paper we explore a candidate mechanism, the provision of school effort. We show that, when earnings reflect individual educational performance as well as the field of study selected at...