Reform In Italy Research Articles

Trying to find a balance: Energy excise duties in the context of climate targets, energy shocks, and redistributive goals

This study examines the implementation of an environmental tax reform in Italy, focusing on changes in excise duties on petrol, diesel and electricity. The reform is in line with the revised European Energy Tax Directive and aims to support European climate objectives. The main motivation of this research is to show how the additional revenues generated by the environmental reform can be used to mitigate its regressive impact on low-income households through cash transfers. The analysis uses a microsimulation model based on data from the Household Budget Survey. The environmental reform combined with the cash transfer is implemented for 2019 and 2022, this latter being a year significantly affected by the energy crisis. The results confirm the inherent regressivity of the environmental tax reform when considered in isolation, but they also reveal significant positive redistributive effects achieved by paying monetary transfers to households in the lowest three income deciles. In this case, the reform enhances redistributive outcomes that remain effective even when the structure of the transfers is modified. The paper also highlights the limited redistributive impact of the 2022 excise tax cuts on fuel, which aimed to address the regressive effects of the energy shock. Again, a targeted cash transfer would have been more effective for low-income households.

Teachers’ shortage and initial teacher education reforms in Italy: an overview

ABSTRACT The paper addresses the critical issue of teacher shortages in Europe, with a focus on Italy. It examines the declining attractiveness of the teaching profession, citing factors such as job dissatisfaction, low pay and difficult working conditions. It highlights the growing demand for teachers and the need for reforms in teacher education. The Italian context is examined, revealing a dual scenario of surplus teachers in some areas and severe shortages in others. The paper discusses the reforms underway in Italy to improve teacher education, recruitment and retention, emphasising the need for innovative, high-quality teacher education programmes and a comprehensive approach to tackling the problem at national level.

Mediterranean Farmers and Alternative Europes: Resistance, Europeanisation and CAP Reforms in Italy and France (mid-1970s to mid-1980s)

This article explores the active participation and, in some cases, resistance of farmers’ associations in Italy and France to European integration from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. The article examines, firstly, how Italian associations became active, due to their faltering relationship with the Christian Democrats, in searching new forms of political influence through more radical methods of mobilisation. Secondly, through the case of the so-called wine war between France and Italy, the article reveals how resistance to European Economic Community (EEC) reform and even other EEC member states could lead to forms of Europeanisation: exchanges between European organisations reflected shared resistance to specific policies, creating new arenas for collaboration. The analysis of the French–Italian case also offers an opportunity to explore the contrast between agriculture in the Mediterranean and northern countries in the EEC, showing complex Europeanisation dynamics in which both solidarity and competition become evident. Challenging the notion of a ‘permissive consensus’, this article aims to dismantle the notion of a conflict-free past in the history of European integration. In this regard, it underscores the multifaceted nature of European integration, marked by continual clashes and compromises, and provides a critical lens for interpreting the present state of the Brussels institutions.

Assessing the types of policy networks in policymaking: Empirical evidence from administrative reform in Italy

AbstractPolicy networks can propose solutions (policy communities, and epistemic communities), defend specific instruments (instrument constituencies), and programmatically prioritize change or stability (programmatic groups). This paper focuses on two specific networks that have been present in 30 years of administrative reform in Italy, and it empirically assesses what type of network they are according to their origins, developments over time, membership and motivations to stay together, and role in the policymaking. This comparison, while improving the current understanding of the networking taking place in the Italian administrative reform, shows that if policy networks are very relevant in the policy process, it is analytically more fruitful and empirically more reliable to assess their characteristics empirically, rather than to assume their existence in advance (and make hypotheses on this basis) or to use the concept in a purely metaphorical manner.

Minority shareholders and tax avoidance

This paper examines whether and how external country-level corporate governance devices affect corporate tax avoidance. Using a panel of public firms across 33 countries, I show that laws empowering minority shareholders hinder corporate tax avoidance, consistent with shareholder protection laws spilling over to tax avoidance through reduced income diversion. I corroborate the validity of these findings using a major corporate governance reform in Italy. In cross-sectional tests, I further document that firms in countries with stricter transfer pricing rules and stronger tax enforcement reduce tax avoidance to a larger extent. Finally, through path analysis, I provide evidence consistent with firms shifting less income to foreign countries in response to stronger minority shareholder rights. Overall, these findings suggest that minority shareholder protection laws can safeguard outside investors and the government against expropriation by insiders.

How Should We Design Parental Leave Policies? Evidence from Two Reforms in Italy

How Should We Design Parental Leave Policies? Evidence from Two Reforms in Italy

The 2022 community-based integrated care reform in Italy: From desiderata to implementation

The Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan allocated € 7 Bn for community care. In May 2022, the Italian government issued a Decree to define the strategy for the development of community-based integrated care. The reform aims to create uniformly a network of services close to where patients live, thus overcoming geographical disparities between regions. The strategy is based on a strong role of the central government in community care, but still leaves autonomy to regions. Levelling availability of services across territories, setting uniform targets with a short period horizon and disregarding starting points may create important implementation problems. Financial constraints will also hamper the implementation of the reform. Ultimately the development of Italian community care will depend on the institutional and managerial capabilities of regions and local health authorities. Firstly, they should shape the actual implementation of community care services by defining organizational arrangements, priority targets and models of care delivery. Secondly, they should develop strategies to face the lack of financial resources and the shortage of healthcare workforce. This contribution informs international readers about a major policy in a European country and its implementation challenges. It offers insights into inter-government relations in NHS-type healthcare systems (Nordic countries and Spain), showcasing the complexity of policymaking involving multiple political actors and resulting indeterminacy of policies and their implementation.

The Italian gender gap in pensions: A cohort of birth approach

Introduction: The text discusses the gender pension gap in rich countries, focusing specifically on Italy. The paper delves into the evolution of this gap across different generations, analyzing social security reforms and their impact on retirement incomes. The study emphasizes the importance of understanding these disparities for designing effective pension systems that address gender inequalities and ensure well-being in retirement.Objective: The aim of the article is to investigate the gender pension gap, specifically in the context of Italy, by analyzing the factors contributing to this disparity, including late entry into the job market, wage gaps, and caregiving responsibilities. The study focuses on understanding the impact of social security reforms and the pension system on these gender inequalities, aiming to provide insights for the design of equitable pension systems.Materials and methods: The article utilized administrative data from the Italian National Institute for Social Security (INPS) covering pension payments from 1995 to 2022. The study employed a cohort perspective, analyzing the evolution of the gender pension gap across generations and examining the impact of social security reforms and labor market arrangements.Results: The main conclusion of the study indicates that while the absolute gender disparity in mean retirement income has increased across cohorts of Italian retirees born between 1930 and 1954, the relative gender gap, when considering men's average pension, has decreased over time. Additionally, the impact of survivor's benefits has been significant in reducing the gender disparity in pensions, particularly in the later stages of life. Furthermore, the study found that the impact of social security reforms in Italy has been limited, primarily affecting the youngest cohorts, with most retirees still relying on the dominant defined benefit component for their pensions.

Western Historiography of the 60s-70s of 20th Century on the Problems of Humanism and the Reformation in Italy

Key words: ideology, religion, doctrine, Catholic Church, doctrine, humanist, reformist, Protestantism During the 1960s and 1970s of the 20th century, the focal point for many Western historians, particularly those specializing in medieval studies, revolved around the destiny of the Italian Humanism within the context of the burgeoning Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation. They also delved into the exploration of the complex correlation between the Renaissance and the Reformation and the convergence between the humanistic worldview and the ideology of the Reformation. Western scholars have prominently emphasized the continuity of the cultural and historical achievements of the Italian Humanism and the ideology of the Reformation. The prevailing consensus among those Western scholars is that the optimistic worldview of the Renaissance was markedly more progressive when compared to the ideology of the Protestant Reformation. These scholarly works underscored the cohesion between the advancements in humanistic thought and the cultural and historical imperatives of the Protestant Reformation. Notably, they highlighted areas of convergence, such as the prioritization of inner spirituality over external ritualism and the shared aspiration for the moral rejuvenation of the church. Within this scholarly discourse, humanism emerges as a precursor to the Reformation, laying the groundwork for its emergence.

All in, against all odds. Path shift in family policy via cross‐party agreement: the case of the Single Universal Allowance reform in Italy

AbstractThe introduction of the Single Universal Child Allowance in 2021 marked a sharp turning point in Italian family policy. Presented as a major revolution aimed at combating the country's alarmingly low birth rates as well as child poverty, the reform was also meant to rationalise the benefits system while overcoming the historical fragmentation and uneven protection granted to families. Against this backdrop, the article contributes to the literature from two different angles. First, the study offers fresh empirical evidence of the path‐shifting scope of the reform, marking a rupture with the longstanding weak model of income support. Second, the article engages from an interpretative standpoint with the puzzling emergence of a cross‐party consensus around approval. Drawing from the comparative literature on institutional change and the modernisation of family policies, the article asks which factors made it possible—after decades of substantial inertia—to overcome path dependency through cross‐party agreement in Italy, providing an in‐depth, original examination of parties' positions throughout the legislative process and identifying key elements of agreement and conflict.

Does a Longer Work Horizon Affect Offsprings' Labour Market Outcomes?

This paper studies the effect of an increase in the work horizon of middle aged workers on the school-work transition of their offsprings aged 15–29 years. I exploit the variation in the parental work horizon induced by the 2012 Fornero reform in Italy that abruptly changed the age and years of social security contribution requirements for pension eligibility. Utilising a difference-in-difference strategy in a multi-valued treatment setting, the study shows that the reform-induced increase in the work horizon of mothers caused an increase in the probability of their offsprings seeking their first job and a decrease in these offsprings’ probability of being a student. This effect is higher among offsprings who are male, those aged 15–21, those with mothers without a University degree and those in southern Italy. Fathers did not significantly affect the student status or any labour market outcomes of their offsprings. Mechanisms behind these findings include the longer reform-induced work horizon for mothers vs. fathers, and the consequent positive effect on mothers’ lifetime earnings.

The 2022 primary care reform in Italy: Improving continuity and reducing regional disparities?

Several member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development are reforming their primary care systems to improve continuity and co-ordination of care. In May 2022, the Italian health minister issued a new Decree on ‘defining models and standards for the development of primary care in the national health service’, which addresses some of the major challenges outlined by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The reform will target many aspects of the Italian national health system by transforming primary care into community care, while aiming to overcome geographical disparities and achieve greater effectiveness of services. The reform seeks to establish a new organisational model of the primary care network. There exists the potential to guarantee the same quality of care nationwide, thereby reducing geographical differences in the provision of services and improving healthcare services overall. Nevertheless, in a decentralised health system such as Italy's, reform implementation could actually proliferate rather than reduce regional disparities. This study explains the main points of the Decree, shows how the primary care models of the Italian regions may evolve in relation to the specified criteria, and examines the Decree's capacity to bridge regional discrepancies.

Electoral reforms in Italy: the continuing quest for stability and proportionality

Electoral reforms in Italy: the continuing quest for stability and proportionality

Giulia Gonzaga: A Gentlewoman in the Italian Reformation by Susanna Peyronel Rambaldi (review)

Reviewed by: Giulia Gonzaga: A Gentlewoman in the Italian Reformation by Susanna Peyronel Rambaldi William V. Hudon Giulia Gonzaga: A Gentlewoman in the Italian Reformation. By Susanna Peyronel Rambaldi. Translated by Richard Bates. [Viella History, Arts and Humanities Collection, 11. Società di Studi Valdesi—English Series] (Rome: Viella. 2021. Pp. 248. € 49,00. ISBN: 978-88-3313-763-6.) Specialists in early modern Italian history know this first volume in the new Viella series, translating a work originally published in 2012. Susanna Peyronel Rambaldi, lauded for her studies of reform in Italy, particularly in Modena, here provided reconsideration of a central figure in that history, Giulia Gonzaga (1513–1566). Rambaldi plays off an early, defective, and mannered initial biography of Gonzaga by Giuseppe Betussi (c.1512–c.1573). Gonzaga was significant not just for the dynastic and political life Betussi traced, Rambaldi maintains, but also because of her hazardous spiritual interests and contacts with heterodox individuals, features that Betussi omitted. Rambaldi argues that Gonzaga was affected by the social tension generated by growing Spanish imperial power and by Italian ruling factions allying with it, but never abandoned the largely clandestine, Nicodemitic culture she found appealing, not even when living in a Neapolitan convent. Instead, Rambaldi maintains, she and other women of the time exhibited a cultural and spiritual restlessness, plus a commitment to religious renewal they thought could be achieved within protective familial and political loyalties that ultimately proved not-so-protective. After this prefatory thesis statement, Rambaldi delivered a focused, five-chapter biography, one that revolves around the action of women from aristocratic families in the Gonzaga orbit. She highlights Giulia's agency throughout. Gonzaga, as a widow at the age of twenty-two, could have been considered socially and politically weak, but she proved overwise. She was, as Rambaldi said, "beautiful and difficult, … strong, proud … [and] sometimes vindictive" (p. 137). She was a protagonist, not a bystander, actively advising political leaders such as her cousin Ferrante (1544–1586), governor of Milan; Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga (1505–1563), the governor of Mantua; and a beloved nephew, Vespasiano (1531–1591), founder and duke of Sabbioneta. She represented the family before Charles V on his tour in Naples, served as an unofficial marriage broker guiding her extended family on prospective alliances, and, as the close friend of Pietro Carnesecchi (1508–1567), narrowly escaped an inquisitorial trial—and likely execution—of her own. Rambaldi traced Gonzaga's movement around courtly circles, including her "ruling from the convent," the subject of a meaty chapter (pp. 137–96). All this seemed, for Rambaldi, to illustrate the inadequacy of standard images that circulate about early modern widows and nuns. I couldn't agree more, as my examination of the life and writings of Camilla Battista da Varano (1458–1524) confirms the point. Individuals like Gonzaga and Varano show how widely varied contemporary female experience of convent life really was. Rambaldi's findings are based on prodigious research. At the center lies her analysis of Gonzaga's vernacular correspondence scattered across numerous archives in north-central Italy. Imbedded in the notes are hints toward projects for [End Page 408] still more historical investigation, among the numerous individuals with whom Gonzaga corresponded. She was not alone in the activities that Rambaldi found so fascinating, including in her relationships with religious dissenters. And while the study highlights inquisitorial action under popes Paul IV (1555–1559) and Pius V (1566-1572), Rambaldi's analysis shows—like so many studies of local behavior—that institutional intent under those popes to restrict the spread of dissenting, heterodox ideas was firm, but their ability to shut it down, even among women like Gonzaga, was limited. William V. Hudon Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania William V. Hudon Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania Copyright © 2023 The Catholic University of America Press

More Flexible, Less Productive? The Impact of Employment Protection Legislation Reforms in Italy

ABSTRACT Through a meta-analysis of all publicly available research over a span of 25 years, the article assesses the productivity impact of the employment protection legislation reforms that have been introduced in Italy since 1997. European Union institutions and domestic reformers advocated the reforms in order to increase the competitiveness and productivity of the Italian economy. Yet, by incentivising temporary employment, the reforms have favoured competitive strategies that have reduced the productivity of the country’s firms.

If You Give Bureaucrats an Inch, Will They Take a Yard? Lessons from Threshold Regulatory Reform in Italy

The role of discretion in public procurement has been the subject of wide debate in regulation literature and practice. Greater discretion potentially may allow for greater efficiency in procurement. However, when social capital and institutional quality are low, more discretion can easily open the door to bribery and corruption. In this paper, adopting a semiparametric approach and using a large dataset of public works managed by Italian municipalities, we empirically assess the effects of a reform in the regulation of public works in Italy, approved in 2011, that has increased the discretion of bureaucrats in the choice of the firms. The results provide evidence that the reform has exerted a positive, although mild, effect on the performance of public works execution. However, the positive role of the reform is more relevant in those areas where the effect of public service norms and prosocial behaviors are higher.

Administrative reforms in the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan: a selective approach to bridge the capacity gap

ABSTRACT The article investigates the impact of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, complemented by changes in the composition of government at the domestic level, on the patterns of administrative reforms in Italy. We draw on research arguments that rest on historical institutionalism, which constitutes an established approach to the study of administrative reforms. We elaborate on how history has connected well-established patterns of administrative reform to the design and governance of the NRRP measures that aim to provide better public services. We find the strongest support for the research arguments derived from the reactive approach to policy sequencing, entailing the co-existence of pre-pandemic patterns and innovative policy features

The Persistence of Rural Underdevelopment: Evidence from Land Reform in Italy

Patchiness in rural development remains a salient feature of many developed and developing countries that have struggled historically to overcome enormous national disparities in economic structure and well-being. This paper examines how one major, explicit rural policy ostensibly aimed at rural advancement—land reform—can impact uneven development in the countryside. It does so in Italy, where a major land reform redistributed large landholdings to individual peasant families after World War II. Based on original fine-grained data on land redistribution and a geographical regression discontinuity analysis that takes advantage of Italy’s zonal land reform approach, I find that greater land reform fueled comparative underdevelopment and precarity locally over the long term. Several related mechanisms delayed development in land reform zones: a slower transition out of agriculture, lower labor mobility, and an aging demographic. These are generalizable mechanisms that could operate in other cases of land reform beyond Italy.

Tax breaks for incentive pay, productivity and wages: Evidence from a reform in Italy

AbstractThis paper analyses the impact of a tax break on incentive pay (introduced in Law n. 208/2015) on labour productivity and average wages in Italian firms. We use a unique source of firm‐level information drawn from a large representative survey of Italian firms merged with the ORBIS archive. By applying difference‐in‐differences methods, we obtain the following results. First, the tax break has a positive effect on both labour productivity and average wages, although the positive effect on average wages is not confirmed by robustness tests. Second, productivity impacts are mainly driven by family firms in northern regions, where firms benefit from the more dynamic business environment in which they operate. These results take into account unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity issues.

Eppur si muove: an evaluation of museum policy reform in Italy

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a novel cultural policy to recover the valorization function of Italian state museums by increasing managerial autonomy. The policy is part of the Franceschini reform, introduced in 2014, that concerns the governance of cultural institutions and was justified by the severe budget constraints resulting from economic crisis and a spending review. Given the staggered implementation of the reform across 32 museums that obtained special autonomy, we apply a difference-in-differences strategy that allows to properly investigate the causal effect of the policy reform on museums’ outcome measures of exhibition function, as visitors and revenue from admissions. Our findings robustly support the effectiveness of the cultural policy reform in terms these outcomes. Although we provide some suggestive evidence of the efficacy of museums’ management (through a number of communication and supplementary services), this study suffers of the limitations due to the lack of more appropriate measures on how successful changes in management have been. However, results aim to offer policy recommendations in favor of greater managerial and financial autonomy of state museums that, while preserving their conservation function, can promote the widespread utilization of collections ensuring museums’ greater sustainability.