Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Settore SECS-P/04 - Storia del Pensiero Economico'

The thesis tries to give an answer to the question about the impact academic research might produce on the learning processes of bureaucracy in decision making of policies. It also tries to understand in and how policies are built and implemented on the basis of research. We know that effective public policies should rest on academic results: nevertheless what academics offer do not always matches what policy makers (politicians and bureaucrats) need. Many research dimensions are considered, taking into account the relations between those which literature named the two communities of policy makers and academics (including divisions between politicians and bureaucrats into the decision makers community). The analysis of the peculiar Italian situation is also taken into account: in order to define the decision making community we have chosen the subset of senior civil servants (dirigenti pubblici) from central government, represented by the 561 alumni of the National Institute for Public Administration (SNA, Scuola Nazionale dell’Amministrazione). They were asked to respond to a questionnaire, similar to the one prepared for the “Sir Humphrey and the Professors: what does Whitehall want from academics? A survey of senior civil servants’ views on the accessibility and utility of academic research and expertise”, research by Talbot and Talbot (2014). In that study the survey considered the UK SCSs on the accessibility and utility of academic research and expertise. 7 We have had an almost 40% responses by the Italian SCSs and results show that they have a basically positive approach to academic research and its relevance for the activities of policy process, asking for a concrete, understandable and timely support. Those evidences are mostly similar to the ones offered by the UK survey, though in the latter SCSs show tendency to a more pragmatic approach. It is a positive signal, needing for further research to clarify whether it is an attitude from SNA alumni only – that seems reasonable because of the particular track they have followed – or it can be extended to the whole of SCSs, and id and how the role of governments as facilitators of the dialogue between the two communities could be developed

The present work is organized in five chapters and it proposes and applies alternative measures of productivity constructed using input-output tables and based mainly on the Sraffian scheme. The first three chapters of the thesis are devoted to the development and the empirical application of new productivity measures. These chapters form the main part of the work. The last two chapters are devoted to sensitivity analysis. In the first chapter, entitled ‘Productivity accounting based on production prices’ an alternative method of productivity accounting is proposed. By using input–output tables from four major OECD countries between 1970 and 2000, we compute the associated wage-profit frontiers and the net national products curves, and from these we derive two measures of productivity growth based on production prices and a chosen numeraire. The findings support the general conclusions in the existing literature on the productivity slowdown and later rebound, and supply new important insights to the extent and timing of these events. The second chapter is entitled ‘New measures of sectoral productivity’. The objective of this chapter is to propose alternative methods of sectoral productivity accounting based the theoretical work of Goodwin (1976), Gossling (1972), Pasinetti (1973), and Sraffa (1960). The indexes developed in this study differ from the standard indexes of productivity because they are designed on the basis of some of the following desiderable features: take into account the interconnections among economic sectors, aggregate heterogeneous goods by using production prices, and compute productivity by using quantity of goods instead of their values. These indexes are then be tested empirically by computing productivity of four major OECD countries. The third chapter is entitled ‘Productivity in the Italian regions: development of Alternative Indicators based on input-output tables’. This chapter calculates indices of aggregate productivity, sectoral productivity, and technological progress for a selected sample of Italian regions. Besides these indices, two different versions of the so-called technological frontier were calculated. The contemporary frontiers that are constructed from all the production techniques extracted from the regional input-output tables in a given year and the intertemporal frontier that is computed for the full set of techniques available over time and across regions. The availability of the technological frontiers allows the calculation of the recently developed Velupillai-Fredholm-Zambelli indices of convergence (Fredholm and Zambelli, 2009) that are based on the distance between the region-specific wage-profit frontiers and the technological frontiers. Given the important role played by the production prices, this chapter also examines the price curves for each region and industry and it identifies remarkable regularities. Not surprisingly, analyses of the findings reveal that there is a productivity gap between the regions of North and South. However, the analysis of sectoral productivity reveals two important facts. The first is that the techniques of some industries are more productive in the South than in the North. The second, who follows from the first, is that all regions could therefore improve productivity through greater integration. Chapter four is entitled ‘An Inquiry into the choice of Numeraire’. This chapter has several objectives. The main aim is to examine the robustness of the results obtained by applying the new approach to measuring productivity if we change the numeraire chosen. However, it should be mentioned that the problem of the choice of numeraire is a general one and for this reason, the chapter also proposes universal guidelines to be followed in choosing the numeraire and in testing the robustness of the results to changes in the numeraire. Finally, chapter five is entitled ‘An Inquiry into the effect of aggregation of input-output tables’. The aim of this chapter is to test the robustness of the results from a progressive aggregation of the input-output tables.

Antecedenti e precedenti dell'autarchia economica fascista. Gli interessi e le teorie delle autarchie. Gli assetti istituzionali dell'IMI e il finanziamento dell'autarchia. I mutui dell'IMI: attori, settori e obiettivi.

Scopo di questa ricerca è interrogarsi sulla storia del campo di problematizzazione dell'etica professionale e sulle condizioni di possibilità per il darsi di un tale campo, nella convinzione che ciò consenta di riflettere da una prospettiva critica meno usuale sulla rilevanza politica del lavoro, che funge indubbiamente - nella società occidentale contemporanea - da elemento essenziale di inclusione esplicandosi come funzione normata di produzione di identità politico-sociale. Dopo aver reso conto dell'attuale dibattito in materia di etica e deontologia professionale, dei suoi immediati antecedenti e della sua relazione di affinità rispetto al contesto socioeconomico in cui esso matura, l'attenzione si concentra pertanto su una ricostruzione storica del concetto di professione che – ragionando non tanto sul versante weberiano del Beruf quanto su quello latino della professio, con speciale riferimento alla professio census e alla tematizzazione de officiis – muove dal diritto romano e dal pensiero patristico risalendo fino all'esperienza medievale, alla trattatistica della Controriforma e al graduale emergere di un'etica professionale in senso stretto sul finire del Settecento, per provare a chiarire nei termini di “inclusione nell'ordine†quell'intreccio tra radice teologica, politica ed economica che aiuta a comprendere il rilievo che alla professione è stato via via riconosciuto sul piano etico e politico-sociale.

Every economic theory is structured starting from general assumptions about human nature and the behavioural patterns of people. As stated by Davis , the mainstream economic theory does not really explain the individual, and what is believed to be a realistic description of the human being in economics is actually an abstract conception that represents the various subjects indiscriminately parts of people, countries, organizations, animals, machines – indeed anything to which a maximizing function might be attributed. However, today it is well-accepted the refusal of a rapacious and a-social individual, determined solely by the pursuit of personal advantages within a context of unbridled social Darwinism. With respect to this point, heterogeneous approaches have developed with interesting proposals and new leading research programs such as, for example: game theory, behavioural economics, experimental economics, evolutionary economics, neuroeconomics, complex adaptive systems theory, and the capability approach . The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the link between individual agency and economic theory from a perspective of the history of economic thought. The common ground that connects the three papers presented is the reflection upon three different theoretical approaches concerning human conduct in the complex economic world. The first paper is related to the approach to political economy represented by Sraffa’s price equations. As is known, in Production of commodities by means of commodities Sraffa’s results not only do undermine the marginalist concept of capital and its theory of value and distribution, but have also the purpose of revitalizing the old standpoint of Classical political economy. The goal of the first paper is precisely to show how the Classical Sraffian approach can be a valuable point of departure for the discussion of the behaviour of individuals or groups in the economic activity. The second paper analyses the thought of Destutt de Tracy, founder of the French liberal group of Idéologues. His observations seem to be the result of the intersection between the making of economic theory and the passionate attempt to find a system of moral philosophy that describes the individual as bearer of a plurality of passions. The third paper deals with Analytical Marxism, which attempts to interpret the heterodox ideas of Marx by means of the intellectual categories of neoclassical economy. In particular, I focus on the relevance given by Analitical Marxism to the action of the individuals, under the influence of psychological factors, in order to strive for the possible realization of a “just” society. Philosophical issues are inherent in economic theory and play a role behind the scenes. It emerges that, from the adopted point of view, the development of economic theory poses fundamental epistemological questions. We can conclude that the proper dialogue between economics and philosophy can bolster the meaning and relevance of economic theory.

This work has two main aims: it wants, from one side, to revive the debate on the Transition to Capitalism, whereas, on the other side, it proposes a new political approach to historical materialism. Triggered by social concerns about our times - which are characterised by growing inequality and poverty, by class polarisation, climate emergences, economic crises and new wars - the research devotes theoretical attention to the dialectics between political present and the writing of history. While the world leaves behind thirty years of neo-liberal unipolarism, and History, in its magnitude, gets back into the scene, the paper, critically focusing on the origins of Capitalism and on the praxis of change, shakes the hypostatization of the present social system and, highlighting the specific features that make it finite and superable, historicises it. The work challenges those academic studies which have dealt, in the wake of several cultural trends, with the history of economic and social development, counterposing to micro-specialisation, post-modern fragmentation and the multiplication of perspectives, a systematic contestation of the whole bulk of relations which Capitalism entails. Devoting a new importance to class paradigm - even with respect to materialist traditional approaches - the essay contributes to Marxist historiography, originally investigating theoretical nodes such as the relationship between base and superstructure, history and theory, materiality and ideology, objectivity and subjectivity. Group interests, class relations and conflicts in XVIII century England are inspected with the goal of defining a new method for historical investigation: the social praxis, as a methodological criterion, does not only permit us to reframe the dynamics relating economic (structural) and social transformations, but proves to be a valid guide to preserve the researcher’s writing from from the ideological influence of his time hegemony.

In the light of the recent developments occurred in the domestic sector in Europe and the debate on the externalisation of domestic and care activities, this research explores the impact of gender, care and migration regimes on migrant domestic work. While the number of migrant domestic workers is increasing everywhere in Europe, the cross-national differences in the ethnicisation of the sector remain significant and depend on multiple factors. The literature on domestic work has long recognised the role of welfare/care regimes in determining the degree of externalisation of domestic and care activities and the role of migration regimes in attracting migrant workers. Additionally, the gender regime can also be crucial to understand the recent developments of paid domestic work in Europe.In this dissertation, I present the findings of a quantitative study conducted at the European level, aimed at exploring the interconnection of care, gender and migration regimes and their impact on migrant domestic work in Europe. For this, I have conducted a two-step analysis. First, I have created three typologies of countries, one for each regime, based on relevant indicators, which allowed me to identify clusters of countries that behave similarly with respect to the three regimes. Then, I have tested the effect of the typologies on the ethnicisation of the domestic sector. The findings suggest that the three regimes do have an effect on the concentration of migrants in the domestic sector, and that this effect is greater when the three regimes are taken into account simultaneously.

Il suddetto lavoro affronta il tema del “discorso” economico in Michel Foucault. Foucault è stato un filosofo e storico dello scorso secolo vissuto tra il 1926 e il 1984. Fu professore al Collège de France di Parigi dal 1970 fino alla sua morte. Il tema economico in Michel Foucault è spesso presente nelle sue opere benché egli non dedichi mai uno scritto unicamente a questo aspetto. In questo elaborato si cerca di formulare un discorso organico al riguardo del sapere economico concepito a seguito di numerose ricerche nella società Europea contemporanea come una «pratica discorsiva» fortemente connessa al potere e alle istituzioni. Al tema delle pratiche del potere Foucault dedica la maggior parte dei suoi studi e all’interno di queste pratiche egli non può non affrontare il tema dell’economia. L’analisi dell’economia del filosofo parte da un’archeologia del sapere economico rintracciabile nella sua celebre opera «Le parole e le cose» per giungere ad un’analitica delle pratiche di governo neoliberali ravvisabile nei Corsi al Collège de France della seconda metà degli anni Settanta. La tesi intende osservare questo interessante aspetto dei lavori del filosofo osservandone anche le derivazioni dalla «scuola epistemologica francese», la quale intendeva rimettere in discussione il modo di condurre l’analisi storica e filosofica tradizionale.

Fin dall’Antichità la riflessione sulle tematiche economiche accompagna l’uomo, ben prima della «svolta» scientifica settecentesca. Nel basso medioevo, ed in particolare nel XIII secolo, la riflessione sull’economico assunse un rilievo del tutto particolare, ad opera dell’Ordine dei Frati Minori. I francescani rappresentarono una peculiarità assoluta, la loro «altissima povertà» diede luogo ad una riflessione intorno al discorso economico di grande spessore e del tutto singolare. Interesse, prezzo, valore, capitale, proprietà, possesso, uso, furono le principali categorie economiche oggetto di un indagine, tutta francescana, che da Bonaventura da Bagnoregio, Pietro di Giovanni Olivi, Giovanni Duns Scoto fino a Guglielmo d’Occam, caratterizzò la riflessione dell’Ordine intorno all’etica economica tra la seconda metà del XIII e prima metà del XIV secolo. I francescani misero a punto un lessico economico capace delle più sofisticate interpretazioni del reale. Un pensiero, quello economico francescano, che non si esaurì nel Duecento, ma rimodellò il rapporto dell’uomo con i beni ed il denaro per molti secoli a venire. Una profonda ed originale analisi cui i francescani sottoposero l’agire umano in chiave etico–economica.

La svalutazione di cui fu vittima il marco tedesco nel periodo che va dal 1914 al 1923 è uno dei fenomeni monetari più incisivi verificatisi durante il secolo scorso. A causa dell’enorme espansione della massa di moneta circolante in Germania, necessaria dapprima al sostenimento della spesa bellica nel periodo della Prima Guerra Mondiale e successivamente, durante il periodo post-bellico, per consentire il funzionamento degli apparati statali e finanziare i sussidi per le industrie della Ruhr che avevano adottato una forma di resistenza passiva all’occupazione da parte dell’esercito francese, la moneta tedesca subì un fortissimo deprezzamento rispetto alle principali valute straniere ed ai beni di produzione interna ed estera. Corrado Gini, sociologo, statistico ed economista, fu autore di un importante saggio nel quale raccolse il suo pensiero riguardo all’economia. La visione neo organicistica dell’economia di Gini è l’ossatura principale sulla quale si sostiene la sua teoria economica; l’economia, o meglio l’organismo economico, presenta infatti delle analogie con l’organismo biologico. Esso non è in una situazione di equilibrio stazionario, bensì costantemente in uno stato dinamico e, qualora questo equilibrio venga alterato, il sistema economico dispone di meccanismi propri atti a ristabilire lo stato di equilibrio. Nell’analisi presente in “Patologia Economica” l’inflazione rappresenta per il sistema economico ciò che per l’organismo biologico è rappresentato dalla febbre, cioè il sintomo di una malattia. L’elaborato si propone di analizzare la concezione di Gini in merito all’inflazione dal punto di vista delle origini, della funzione e riguardo ai provvedimenti che possono integrare o correggere il suo impatto sull’economia. Nel saggio di Costantino Bresciani Turroni “Le vicende del marco tedesco” sono descritte le dinamiche di cui fu vittima l’economia tedesca in seguito alla sconfitta subita nella Prima Guerra Mondiale e sono esaminate le precise cause di una tale svalutazione e gli effetti che essa ebbe sul tessuto produttivo e sociale del Paese. 1. L’inflazione: “un equivoco degli economisti”. Secondo la fisiopatologia economica di Corrado Gini l’inflazione può originare effetti utili in periodi anormali come le guerre, utilizzando la metafora dell’organismo biologico l’autore afferma che la spirale inflattiva non è altro che un sintomo od una reazione del corpo ad una malattia. (C. Gini, Patologia economica,V edizione, 1954). 2. Come si inserisce in questo dibattito la riflessione di Bresciani Tuttoni. L’iperinflazione del marco carta secondo C. Bresciani-Turroni: l’eccesso di emissione di cartamoneta, le visioni degli autori analizzati nel saggio, iperinflazione e teoria quantitativa della moneta, problemi correlati. (C. Bresciani-Turroni, Le vicende del marco tedesco, 1931) 3. L’inflazione, la teoria austriaca del ciclo ed il pensiero dei principali economisti italiani. Dopo una digressione sull’impatto dell’inflazione in Italia al termine della Seconda Guerra Mondiale e degli interventi di politica economica messi in atto dal governo De Gasperi, si analizza il legame tra la teoria austriaca del ciclo e l’inflazione. Sono inoltre presenti delle considerazioni sui principali autori italiani che hanno recepito la teoria. Infine si descrive il neo organicismo di Corrado Gini ed il suo legame con la scienza economica. (a. O. Hirschman, Potenza nazionale e commercio estero: gli anni trenta, l’Italia e la ricostruzione, 1987)

This dissertation introduces and develops a new method of rational reconstruction called structural heuristics. Structural heuristics takes assignment of structure to any given object of investigation as the starting point for its rational reconstruction. This means to look at any given object as a system of relations and of transformation laws for those relations. The operational content of this heuristics can be summarized as follows: when facing any given system the best way to approach it is to explicitly look for a possible structure of it. The utilization of structural heuristics allows structural awareness, which is considered a fundamental epistemic disposition, as well as a fundamental condition for the rational reconstruction of systems of knowledge. In this dissertation, structural heuristics is applied to reconstructing the domain of economic knowledge. This is done by exploring four distinct areas of economic research: (i) economic axiomatics; (ii) realism in economics; (iii) production theory; (iv) economic psychology. The application of structural heuristics to these fields of economic inquiry shows the flexibility and potential of structural heuristics as epistemic tool for theoretical exploration and reconstruction.

This dissertation introduces and develops a new method of rational reconstruction called structural heuristics. Structural heuristics takes assignment of structure to any given object of investigation as the starting point for its rational reconstruction. This means to look at any given object as a system of relations and of transformation laws for those relations. The operational content of this heuristics can be summarized as follows: when facing any given system the best way to approach it is to explicitly look for a possible structure of it. The utilization of structural heuristics allows structural awareness, which is considered a fundamental epistemic disposition, as well as a fundamental condition for the rational reconstruction of systems of knowledge. In this dissertation, structural heuristics is applied to reconstructing the domain of economic knowledge. This is done by exploring four distinct areas of economic research: (i) economic axiomatics; (ii) realism in economics; (iii) production theory; (iv) economic psychology. The application of structural heuristics to these fields of economic inquiry shows the flexibility and potential of structural heuristics as epistemic tool for theoretical exploration and reconstruction.

Networks in the fashion business: From a production and distribution organizational form to a successful innovation driven brand strategy. Nowadays, to generate new value and innovate, especially in the fashion business, firms have to develop new approaches. Collaborations between brands in the last decades is becoming a reliable source of innovation allover the firm, generating relevant competitive advantages. Collaboration strategies, defined also as the creation of a network between companies or other institutions, evolved during the recent years from an only productive and supply chain solution to an also concrete brand strategy, developed to improve consumers based objectives and totally reorganize firms structures. This paper starts analyzing the cultural and historical evolution of network organizational forms, and their development across the time and the space, from the first attempts to concrete successful cases of networked organizations. A deep review of the literature is pivotal to concretely understand why and how the use of this structure changed during the years, and evaluate the reasons of its arose and diffusion. The paper will try to understand the dynamics behind the development of a collaborative strategy in the most successful innovative companies, taking in consideration how the temporal and cultural context affect the implementation of collaborative networks. The following part focuses on the implication of a collaborative strategy in the fashion system, trying to understand with a brand managerial interpretation, the strategic network implementations of fashion brands and how those evolved through the time becoming pivotal aspects of their success. To concretely understand this cause-effect process that connects organizational strategic decisions with their effects on brand perception, the paper analyzes the adidas’ collaborative approach, called “Open Source”, part of the 2016-2020 business plan “how we create the new” and how collaborations are seen as a crucial aspect of the entire business strategy of one of the biggest fashion companies in the world.

Il controverso concetto di sostenibilità può assumere due varianti che prendono il nome di sostenibilità debole e sostenibilità forte. Nel primo caso si ritiene che il capitale umano possa eventualmente sostituire il capitale naturale grazie per esempio alle innovazioni tecnologiche; nel secondo, si esplicita la necessità di mantenere costante nel tempo lo stock di capitale naturale, che è considerato non sostituibile da quello umano. Le istituzioni internazionali aderiscono generalmente alla prima visione, ma la seconda sta prendendo sempre più piede grazie anche al diffondersi della corrente della decrescita, che indica l’urgenza di un “cambio di mentalità”, un allontanamento dal modello dominante di crescita e accumulazione illimitata, proponendo una definizione nuova di felicità e benessere, per i quali la misurazione tramite PIL si rivela sempre più inefficace. Ma che tipo di visibilità ha questa visione della sostenibilità a livello internazionale? Compare di tanto in tanto in qualche forum internazionale, tenuto soprattutto in America Latina (es: Porto Alegre) oppure è presente anche nelle grandi conferenze internazionali e nei documenti che ne derivano? Per rispondere à queste domande si può procedere con un’analisi dei grandi appuntamenti internazionali che seguono l’applicazione del Protocollo di Kyoto, quindi in primo luogo la Conferenza di Copenaghen, quella di Cancun e Rio +20. Per concludere, ci si chiede come possano essere messe in pratica le idee portate avanti dai partigiani della decrescita. Analizzando le varie pratiche, si è riscontrata una certa sovrapponibilità tra le tematiche care alla decrescita e le pratiche proposte dai movimenti Slow Movement, di origine italiana e Transition Towns, di origine anglosassone; più precisamente, sembrano coincidere i progetti di costruire una nuova concezione di città e di vivere insieme (es: ridurre la dipendenza da petrolio, rilocalizzare la produzione…). Questi movimenti sono in rapida espansione e si cerca di comprenderne la portata, chiedendosi se essi abbiano acquisito una certa visibilità presso i grandi attori internazionali o se siano al momento limitati ad una dimensione locale.

The present work is organized in five chapters and it proposes and applies alternative measures of productivity constructed using input-output tables and based mainly on the Sraffian scheme. The first three chapters of the thesis are devoted to the development and the empirical application of new productivity measures. These chapters form the main part of the work. The last two chapters are devoted to sensitivity analysis. In the first chapter, entitled ‘Productivity accounting based on production prices’ an alternative method of productivity accounting is proposed. By using input–output tables from four major OECD countries between 1970 and 2000, we compute the associated wage-profit frontiers and the net national products curves, and from these we derive two measures of productivity growth based on production prices and a chosen numeraire. The findings support the general conclusions in the existing literature on the productivity slowdown and later rebound, and supply new important insights to the extent and timing of these events. The second chapter is entitled ‘New measures of sectoral productivity’. The objective of this chapter is to propose alternative methods of sectoral productivity accounting based the theoretical work of Goodwin (1976), Gossling (1972), Pasinetti (1973), and Sraffa (1960). The indexes developed in this study differ from the standard indexes of productivity because they are designed on the basis of some of the following desiderable features: take into account the interconnections among economic sectors, aggregate heterogeneous goods by using production prices, and compute productivity by using quantity of goods instead of their values. These indexes are then be tested empirically by computing productivity of four major OECD countries. The third chapter is entitled ‘Productivity in the Italian regions: development of Alternative Indicators based on input-output tables’. This chapter calculates indices of aggregate productivity, sectoral productivity, and technological progress for a selected sample of Italian regions. Besides these indices, two different versions of the so-called technological frontier were calculated. The contemporary frontiers that are constructed from all the production techniques extracted from the regional input-output tables in a given year and the intertemporal frontier that is computed for the full set of techniques available over time and across regions. The availability of the technological frontiers allows the calculation of the recently developed Velupillai-Fredholm-Zambelli indices of convergence (Fredholm and Zambelli, 2009) that are based on the distance between the region-specific wage-profit frontiers and the technological frontiers. Given the important role played by the production prices, this chapter also examines the price curves for each region and industry and it identifies remarkable regularities. Not surprisingly, analyses of the findings reveal that there is a productivity gap between the regions of North and South. However, the analysis of sectoral productivity reveals two important facts. The first is that the techniques of some industries are more productive in the South than in the North. The second, who follows from the first, is that all regions could therefore improve productivity through greater integration. Chapter four is entitled ‘An Inquiry into the choice of Numeraire’. This chapter has several objectives. The main aim is to examine the robustness of the results obtained by applying the new approach to measuring productivity if we change the numeraire chosen. However, it should be mentioned that the problem of the choice of numeraire is a general one and for this reason, the chapter also proposes universal guidelines to be followed in choosing the numeraire and in testing the robustness of the results to changes in the numeraire. Finally, chapter five is entitled ‘An Inquiry into the effect of aggregation of input-output tables’. The aim of this chapter is to test the robustness of the results from a progressive aggregation of the input-output tables.

Questo lavoro esamina se e a che livello la credibilità dell’assetto istituzionale e delle azioni dei policy-maker influenzano la produzione di eco-innovazione. Dopo una revisione della letteratura che incrocia ambiti teorici diversi, si evidenzia una caratteristica trasversale agli strumenti di politica ambientale, in particolare quella della credibilità, e se ne testa l’effetto sull’eco-innovazione. L’ipotesi centrale di questa tesi, che la credibilità impatti positivamente sulla produzione di eco-innovazione nel sistema economico, viene testata con un’analisi qualitativa e quantitativa sul caso studio della regolamentazione europea sulle emissioni automobilistiche (1980-2007). I risultati confermano l’ipotesi, evidenziando un percorso parallelo tra la produzione di eco-innovazione, misurata in termini di brevetti, e le variazioni nella credibilità della regolamentazione conseguenti a specifiche azioni intraprese a livello comunitario. L’ipotesi è confermata anche dallo studio quantitativo che evidenzia un impatto statisticamente significativo e positivo per l’indice di credibilità proposto. Si conclude suggerendo che UE e paesi membri trarrebbero benefici da una rinnovata attenzione alla credibilità delle politiche ambientali, fondata sull’indipendenza dagli attori economici coinvolti e, in particolare, su una migliore qualità della regolamentazione stessa. Si stima che la conseguente percezione di stabilità ed efficienza migliorerebbe il risultato delle politiche ambientali in termini di eco-innovazioni prodotte dalle imprese.
This thesis investigates whether and to what extent regulatory credibility influences the production of eco-innovation. After a selective literature review that analyzes the concept of eco-innovation through the principles of environmental economics, innovation economics, and regulatory economics, we contribute to the current literature by highlighting the role of a specific regulatory feature, that of credibility. Our hypothesis of a positive impact of regulatory credibility on eco-innovation is confirmed by a case study on the European car emissions regulation (1980-2007), which has been carried out by combining a qualitative and a quantitative approach. The findings indicate a common pattern of eco-innovation, which is measured by patent count, and of the credibility of the EU as car emissions regulator. The quantitative analysis estimates a statistically significant and positive impact of our credibility index on eco-innovation. Our conclusion is that the EU and each Member State would benefit from a new focus on building credible regulatory regimes, based on increasing independence from the industry pressure and on high regulatory quality. The consequently perceived stability and efficiency of the regulation is expected to improve the outcome of environmental policies in terms of eco-innovations produced by industry itself.

Questo lavoro esamina se e a che livello la credibilità dell’assetto istituzionale e delle azioni dei policy-maker influenzano la produzione di eco-innovazione. Dopo una revisione della letteratura che incrocia ambiti teorici diversi, si evidenzia una caratteristica trasversale agli strumenti di politica ambientale, in particolare quella della credibilità, e se ne testa l’effetto sull’eco-innovazione. L’ipotesi centrale di questa tesi, che la credibilità impatti positivamente sulla produzione di eco-innovazione nel sistema economico, viene testata con un’analisi qualitativa e quantitativa sul caso studio della regolamentazione europea sulle emissioni automobilistiche (1980-2007). I risultati confermano l’ipotesi, evidenziando un percorso parallelo tra la produzione di eco-innovazione, misurata in termini di brevetti, e le variazioni nella credibilità della regolamentazione conseguenti a specifiche azioni intraprese a livello comunitario. L’ipotesi è confermata anche dallo studio quantitativo che evidenzia un impatto statisticamente significativo e positivo per l’indice di credibilità proposto. Si conclude suggerendo che UE e paesi membri trarrebbero benefici da una rinnovata attenzione alla credibilità delle politiche ambientali, fondata sull’indipendenza dagli attori economici coinvolti e, in particolare, su una migliore qualità della regolamentazione stessa. Si stima che la conseguente percezione di stabilità ed efficienza migliorerebbe il risultato delle politiche ambientali in termini di eco-innovazioni prodotte dalle imprese.
This thesis investigates whether and to what extent regulatory credibility influences the production of eco-innovation. After a selective literature review that analyzes the concept of eco-innovation through the principles of environmental economics, innovation economics, and regulatory economics, we contribute to the current literature by highlighting the role of a specific regulatory feature, that of credibility. Our hypothesis of a positive impact of regulatory credibility on eco-innovation is confirmed by a case study on the European car emissions regulation (1980-2007), which has been carried out by combining a qualitative and a quantitative approach. The findings indicate a common pattern of eco-innovation, which is measured by patent count, and of the credibility of the EU as car emissions regulator. The quantitative analysis estimates a statistically significant and positive impact of our credibility index on eco-innovation. Our conclusion is that the EU and each Member State would benefit from a new focus on building credible regulatory regimes, based on increasing independence from the industry pressure and on high regulatory quality. The consequently perceived stability and efficiency of the regulation is expected to improve the outcome of environmental policies in terms of eco-innovations produced by industry itself.

The overall goal of this work is to study the effect of a crisis on the distribution and employment and the space of manoeuvre of the government for supporting and reverting the negative shock produced by such a crisis. Every chapter of this work and the related models are supported by both a theoretical background analysis and by numerical dynamic simulations. Stylized facts show that the income and wealth inequality in all the OECD countries has been constantly increasing after the 1960s. Piketty has been one of the most important authors that highlighted the rising inequality issue, mainly in the OECD countries. For example, Piketty (2014) shows that the income share held by the top percentile in countries such as US, Canada and UK increased from 8%-10% in the 1960s up to 14%-18% in the current decade. Similar figures are now provided by the World Inequality Lab that has updated data for almost every country up to 2016. At the same time, the wage share for the majority of the OECD countries substantially decreased. For example, countries such as Italy and Spain experienced a decrease in wage share from about 73% in the 1970s to about 63% in the current decade (Hein, 2014). Taking into account such a stylized fact, we will consider a model with two social classes, workers and capitalists. These social classes differ in terms of their initial endowment, their consumption behaviour, the different loans repayment conditions required to them by the banks and in terms of the ways in which they can use their financeable wealth. This is a very important departure hypothesis from the mainstream point of view models that generally consider a population made up of “a representative agent” of the whole society. Considering the inequality levels that the OECD countries are experiencing, we took the Post-Keynesians school of thought as a very good reference point since it always focused its attention on the relation between the level of employment, the aggregate demand and the distribution between social classes. In line with the post-Keynesians tradition, we believe that a theory cannot be correct unless it starts from realist or realistic hypotheses, although it is recognized that assumptions are always abstractions and simplifications (Lavoie, 2014). Therefore, we developed a step by step model with the analysis of an economy based on some well-known stylized facts. Beyond the social classes distinction, we take into consideration the temporal lag between production and sales of products by firms and the one between income received by the social classes and their expenditure. Those two temporal lags are the very key aspects we focus our attention on in the model presented in Chapter II named “Keynes, Kalecki and Metzler in a Dynamic Distribution Model”. In that chapter, we merge the hints of Keynes and Kalecki about the distribution of social classes and the intervention of the government in supporting the aggregate demand together with Metzler’s hint about the mismatching process between aggregate demand and aggregate production. Metzler’s mismatching process would finally generate inventories of consumption goods. More specifically, it is argued that even if Post-Keynesians models focused their attention on output growth, employment and income distribution relating those issues with a stronger intervention of the state, they all (even the canonical Kaleckian model) overlooked the adjustment - or non-adjustment - dynamics from the ultra-short run to the short run period upon which the short run and long run models are then constructed. In fact, even if the Kaleckian models completely reject the standard neoclassical production function (rejecting diminishing returns and rejecting the substitution between capital and labour) they also very strongly rely on a final equilibrium between aggregate demand and aggregate production. The canonical Kaleckian short run models are constructed upon the consideration of the effective labour demand curve defined as “the locus of combinations between real wages and levels of employment which ensure that all produced goods are sold at the price set by firms” (Lavoie, 2014). As argued by Lavoie (2014), this construction assures that an increase of real wage leads to an increase in the employment level. That has been and still is definitely one of the cornerstones for the Post-Keynesian authors. We argue that the equilibrium assumption between the aggregate demand and the aggregate production plays a key role in obtaining the standard Kaleckian conclusions regarding the relation between effective demand, employment levels and the distribution of surplus product between the social classes. The main question arising from the previous enquiring exercise about adjustment dynamics in the Kaleckian framework is that, because of the overlooking on that adjustment process between aggregate production and aggregate demand, also its conclusions might be consequentially affected. More precisely the main Post-Keynesian Kaleckian conclusions to assess are the following: would it still be true that higher real wages lead to a higher level of employment? Would it still be true that a decrease in the propensity to save will lead to an increase in output and employment? Would it still be true that in order to keep employment from falling, whenever there is an increase in productivity there must be some increase in real wages? And finally, most importantly in terms of policies, would it still be true that in order to keep employment from falling, even when the economy faces a pari passu increase of real wage and productivity level, it would be necessary an increase in real autonomous expenditure such as a strong government one? In this way, our model analyses under which conditions the standard Kaleckian conclusions are still valid considering a disequilibrium situation. Two scenarios are simulated: one with fixed expectations as in Metzler (1941) and another new one based on adaptive expectations and asymmetric behaviour of the wages-unemployment relation. The model questions the effective demand labour curve and suggests that an increase in real autonomous expenditures, mainly by the Government, might be even more essential than what is generally considered in the Kaleckian literature, to avoid increasing unemployment in an increasing wage world. The model presented in Chapter III named “The stabilising role of the Government in a Dynamic Distribution Growth Model” builds upon the model presented in Chapter II and considers once again the effect of a crises on the relation between aggregated demand, employment and distribution between social classes adding important characteristics of realism that were absent in the previous chapter. Here, we consider the gestation period of the investments and the presence of the government investigating its margin of manoeuvre in such an economy. The first aspect takes inspiration by Kalecki (1971) himself who considers the three different Investment stages: investment order or Demand (I^D), investment Production (I^P) and investment delivery or Completion (I^C). In line with a post-Kaleckian perspective, we consider the expected profitability and the capacity utilisation as the two main variables as driving forces for the investment decisions. The second new aspect of this model compared to the one presented in Chapter II is the explicit presence of the government. In fact, even if chapter II suggested the Government as the emblematic autonomous figure able to foster expenditure in times of recession, its actual role in the economy was not analysed. Many post-Keynesian scholars have underlined how recent decades have been characterised by a strong downgrading of the fiscal policy role as a stabilisation instrument of macroeconomic policy (Arestis and Sawyer, 2003). In this way, this chapter analyses exactly the space of manoeuvre of the government and the role of the fiscal policies into a “functional finance” framework where the government "can and should be called upon as a key part of the remedy" (Fazzari, 1994) to ensure a high level of economic activity whenever the private sector is unable to do so by itself. In the light of such a functional finance framework, the government actions should be inspired to achieve a more stable and sustainable growth path. More specifically, we here investigate the possibilities that the Government has to boost and support the economic activity with its two main tools, public investments spending and a taxation system in two scenarios. The first scenario simulates an exogenous fall of private investments while the second one relates to an exogenous increase in labour productivity and real wages. In particular, here we test the canonical Kaleckian model conclusion according to which even when the economy faces a pari passu increase of real wages and productivity level it would be necessary an increase in real autonomous expenditures - such as the one implemented by the government - in order to keep employment from falling. At the same time, the aim of this chapter is also to explore the role of the Government in stabilising the economy exactly thanks to the previous tools. In fact, Chapter II underlined the possibility of an arising unstable path from a mismatching dynamic between aggregate demand and aggregate production. It was argued that such an unstable path might develop because of “wrong” oversensitive expectations of firms regarding the production of consumption goods. Therefore, chapter III focuses exactly on the space of manoeuvre of the government in stabilizing an unstable economic scenario caused by a crisis. The model built in Chapter IV named “The distributive monetary analysis of a sustainable ecological economy” is the natural evolution of the models developed in Chapters II and III. In such a model all the previous stylized facts are contained, namely the temporal lag between production and sales of products by firms, the temporal lag between income received by the social classes and their expenditure, the gestation period of the investments and, finally, the intervention of the government. The most important difference with respect to the models presented in the previous chapters is its overall monetary and ecological framework. In fact, for simplification purposes the previous models were assuming that, in line with a horizontalist approach, commercial banks were providing funds on demand to firms for financing their investments. However, the explicit relations among all the sectors of our economy were not fully exposed. In this chapter Graziani’s endogenous money theory is used and we are developing a Post-Keynesian Stock Flow Consistent (SFC) model to track all the economic relations, both the real and monetary ones. At the same time, the use of a SFC model ensures that “there are no black holes - every flow comes from somewhere and goes somewhere” (Godley W. , 1996) through a rigorous accounting framework, which guarantees a correct and comprehensive integration of all the flows and the stocks of an economy. Such as Kalecki, Graziani and the circuitists economists introduce a preliminary distinction between producers and wage earners. The first step of the monetary circuit is always characterized by firms’ decision to activate production and, in order to do so, they take up loans by commercial banks. In this sense, commercial banks are able to create deposits ex nihilo, granting them loans and, at the same time, creating deposits. In this way, the starting logical cause of the expansion of money is exactly the firms’ willingness of contracting a liability to activate production. In the second step, firms use those loans to pay workers and in this way to obtain the amount of consumption goods desired through the production process. When such funds are transferred by firms to households they instantaneously become income paid for the work provided to firms by workers. Finally, the last step of the Monetary Circuit is characterized by the households’ spending decision to use the money balances previously obtained as income. In this step, while households use their funds to buy consumption goods, firms obtain back those money balances they initially paid to households for their work. In this way, the previous Monetary Circuit analysis is not in contrast with the one made by Kalecki upon the way workers obtain their wages and use all of them to buy consumption goods while capitalists are able to spend just a proportion of their income. Finally, together with its social and monetary framework, our economy is also characterized by an environmental one since we here study the impacts that the economic consumption has in terms of ecological erosion of natural resources. In this way, the model of chapter IV questions the expenditure margins of the Government – in particular after a crisis - and uses the suggestions of the monetary circuit theory to analyse the space for fiscal policies to reduce unemployment boosting the economic activity, to obtain a more equitable distribution between social classes in a sustainable ecological way. Our understanding is that despite many contributions focused on the topics of recovery, distribution and ecological sustainability, few of them tried to tackle them all in a comprehensive way considering the rediscovery of the endogenous money phenomena as one of the most important breakthroughs in the last decades. Here we argue that exactly the endogenous money feature is the essential fil rouge to better understand and connect the three previous important aspects. It is so when we analyse the sectors connections and the policies ones devoted to recovery, and also if we consider how the different incomes and wealth are captured and distributed by the different social classes and finally when we point out the ways of financing long term ecological path to preserve a sustainable environment. Indeed, our overall work in Chapter II, Chapter III and Chapter IV is a step by step construction of an organic and consistent model. It starts with a more theoretical and simplified approach through Chapter II which investigates the (in)stability conditions of the Kaleckian approach while suggesting the presence of an autonomous figure such as the government one. Chapter III adds more real base features through endogenous investments and government presence while Chapter IV finally concludes considering all the real and monetary links of the sectors into a social and ecological framework.

Scopo di questa ricerca è interrogarsi sulla storia del campo di problematizzazione dell'etica professionale e sulle condizioni di possibilità per il darsi di un tale campo, nella convinzione che ciò consenta di riflettere da una prospettiva critica meno usuale sulla rilevanza politica del lavoro, che funge indubbiamente - nella società occidentale contemporanea - da elemento essenziale di inclusione esplicandosi come funzione normata di produzione di identità politico-sociale. Dopo aver reso conto dell'attuale dibattito in materia di etica e deontologia professionale, dei suoi immediati antecedenti e della sua relazione di affinità rispetto al contesto socioeconomico in cui esso matura, l'attenzione si concentra pertanto su una ricostruzione storica del concetto di professione che – ragionando non tanto sul versante weberiano del Beruf quanto su quello latino della professio, con speciale riferimento alla professio census e alla tematizzazione de officiis – muove dal diritto romano e dal pensiero patristico risalendo fino all'esperienza medievale, alla trattatistica della Controriforma e al graduale emergere di un'etica professionale in senso stretto sul finire del Settecento, per provare a chiarire nei termini di “inclusione nell'ordine” quell'intreccio tra radice teologica, politica ed economica che aiuta a comprendere il rilievo che alla professione è stato via via riconosciuto sul piano etico e politico-sociale.

La tesi indaga la logica dell'integrazione europea prendendo in esame il caso dell'Unione Bancaria. Due sono gli argomenti che vengono sostenuti. Il primo é che l'Unione Bancaria é la soluzione imperfetta ad uno spillover funzionale che emerge dalla moneta unica. Il secondo é che l'integrazione europea é un processo di centralizzazione duale i cui fuochi sono le istituzioni sovranazionali e gli stati più potenti.
The dissertation inquiries into the logic of European integration by employing the newly established Banking Union as a case study. Two arguments are developed. First, the Banking Union is the imperfect solution to a functional spillover emerging from the common currency. Second, European integration is best understood as a process of centralisation around supranational institutions and powerful states.

La tesi indaga la logica dell'integrazione europea prendendo in esame il caso dell'Unione Bancaria. Due sono gli argomenti che vengono sostenuti. Il primo é che l'Unione Bancaria é la soluzione imperfetta ad uno spillover funzionale che emerge dalla moneta unica. Il secondo é che l'integrazione europea é un processo di centralizzazione duale i cui fuochi sono le istituzioni sovranazionali e gli stati più potenti.
The dissertation inquiries into the logic of European integration by employing the newly established Banking Union as a case study. Two arguments are developed. First, the Banking Union is the imperfect solution to a functional spillover emerging from the common currency. Second, European integration is best understood as a process of centralisation around supranational institutions and powerful states.

Il presente lavoro intende esaminare il processo di decision making relativo alla politica sociale statunitense sviluppatosi a partire dalla fine degli anni Sessanta, fornendo un’analisi di carattere «istituzionalista» che ponga in rilievo gli snodi cruciali del dibattito relativo al welfare system federale svoltosi sia all’interno del Congresso, sia presso i think tank, i centri universitari, le organizzazioni culturali e religiose, le lobby e le altre realtà associative emerse dalla società civile. In particolare, la ricerca si concentra sull’intreccio tra ideologia politica, mentalità tradizionale, opinione pubblica e interessi specifici, e sull’influsso esercitato dalla dimensione culturale e istituzionale sul processo legislativo. Sono stati individuati quattro principali indirizzi socio-politici, ciascuno dei quali ha avuto un particolare influsso su altrettante ‘fasi’ del processo di riforma del welfare system statunitense svoltosi tra il 1968 e il 2006. L’analisi del dibattito culturale e politico è stata suddivisa pertanto in quattro diversi capitoli (capp. 2-5) che consentono di delineare percorsi distinti per le diverse ipotesi socio-culturali individuate, ai quali viene anteposta una premessa storica relativa alle origini del sistema assistenziale e previdenziale statunitense e alle politiche riformiste degli anni Sessanta (cap. 1).
The dissertation examines the process of decision making that determined the development of U.S. social policy from the end of the Sixties. It analyzes the institutional character of the debate that took place inside the Congress and inside the think tanks, the academic centers, the cultural and religious foundations and other associations. In particular, the research is focused on the tangle between political ideologies, traditional culture, public opinion and legislative process. The dissertation identifies four different socio-political streams: each of them influenced a particular “phase” of the reform of the U.S. welfare system from 1968 up to 2006. The analysis of the cultural and political debate has been divided in four chapters (chapters 2-5) that allow to delineate different developments for the four streams, after an historical premise (chapter 1) that presents the origins of American welfare system, from the colonial times to the Sixties.

Il presente lavoro intende esaminare il processo di decision making relativo alla politica sociale statunitense sviluppatosi a partire dalla fine degli anni Sessanta, fornendo un’analisi di carattere «istituzionalista» che ponga in rilievo gli snodi cruciali del dibattito relativo al welfare system federale svoltosi sia all’interno del Congresso, sia presso i think tank, i centri universitari, le organizzazioni culturali e religiose, le lobby e le altre realtà associative emerse dalla società civile. In particolare, la ricerca si concentra sull’intreccio tra ideologia politica, mentalità tradizionale, opinione pubblica e interessi specifici, e sull’influsso esercitato dalla dimensione culturale e istituzionale sul processo legislativo. Sono stati individuati quattro principali indirizzi socio-politici, ciascuno dei quali ha avuto un particolare influsso su altrettante ‘fasi’ del processo di riforma del welfare system statunitense svoltosi tra il 1968 e il 2006. L’analisi del dibattito culturale e politico è stata suddivisa pertanto in quattro diversi capitoli (capp. 2-5) che consentono di delineare percorsi distinti per le diverse ipotesi socio-culturali individuate, ai quali viene anteposta una premessa storica relativa alle origini del sistema assistenziale e previdenziale statunitense e alle politiche riformiste degli anni Sessanta (cap. 1).
The dissertation examines the process of decision making that determined the development of U.S. social policy from the end of the Sixties. It analyzes the institutional character of the debate that took place inside the Congress and inside the think tanks, the academic centers, the cultural and religious foundations and other associations. In particular, the research is focused on the tangle between political ideologies, traditional culture, public opinion and legislative process. The dissertation identifies four different socio-political streams: each of them influenced a particular “phase” of the reform of the U.S. welfare system from 1968 up to 2006. The analysis of the cultural and political debate has been divided in four chapters (chapters 2-5) that allow to delineate different developments for the four streams, after an historical premise (chapter 1) that presents the origins of American welfare system, from the colonial times to the Sixties.

La tesi ripercorre e analizza l’opera scientifica di Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, dalla critica al concetto di utilità e alla teoria del comportamento del consumatore, all’identificazione del «godimento della vita» come fine ultimo del processo economico. Si indagano le connessioni di questa opera con l’approccio sistemico nelle scienze e si ricercano, inoltre, gli influssi dell’autore sull’attuale impostazione dell’Ecological Economics.
The thesis traces and analyzes the scientific work of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, from the criticism directed at the concept of utility and at the theory of the behaviour of the consumer, to the identification of «enjoyment of life» as the ultimate goal of the economic process. The work investigates the connections of bioeconomics with the systemic approach in the sciences and seek also the influence of the author on the current setting of Ecological Economics.

It is a study aiming at understanding the historical development of a world power within the capitalist world-system , which is also a would-be general perspective or framework of analysis to fathom how a world hegemon emerges out of the history of its own. In a nutshell: it is to be argued that the hegemon is a regime of accumulation wherein state, capital and society work hand in glove with a particular degree of coherence developed within the legal boundaries of its territorial sovereignty. This internal structure of power breeds hegemony, that is, the projection of power unto and onto world space, and into the international system of states and markets. Hence, this study represents an attempt to glean the connection between the internal composition of a regime of accumulation and the propensity and force of the same regime to expand its scale and scope of operation in world space – what Joshua Goldstein calls «lateral pressure» . However, what will be essayed is not the customary inquiry into the projection of power onto the system which a powerful regime engendered, and whose manifestation is what we call hegemony, but an investigation into the inner source and morphology of power whence such a projection primary feeds off. The nub of this study is the hegemon: to understand its path of development, its composition and how it works. More to the point, we will delve into Dutch history to substantiate historically such a perspective. At the end of the sixteenth century a new state called United Provinces stepped into the limelight of European and world history. It emerged out of the war for the independence from the most powerful Empire of the early modern era, the Spanish world power. This war contributed to shape Dutch history. But the United Provinces were more than a development of the sixteenth century. Their historical complexion, as it is to be argued, originated from a past made of unruly ecology and incipient ecological and human commodification. The historical foundations – not their operational organization – arose during the late middle ages, and more precisely in the span of time that went from the XIV to the XVI century. The Dutch Republic, as it was called, became thereby the first hegemon of the modern era through the organized expansion and sovereign structuring of the medieval space of wealth, accumulation and power. In particular, it was the first hegemon of the modern world-system, a capitalist world-economy, the current world historical-social system . The present study is, in general, a very long-run analysis and synthesis of Dutch history to understand the overall movement of power, wealth and capital that characterized the Northern Low Countries from the XIV century to the XVII. The analysis will focus on the power relations, structures, processes, networks, institutions, agents and agencies which developed, operated and changed during this span of time

The dissertation is organized in 3 chapters dealing with the timescale of macrodynamic growth models in the short and in the long run, as well as with the analysis of the climate-economy interplay over the business cycle. The first essay provides an analytical solution to the differential equation that regulates the motion of the neo-Kaleckian model in the short run. After presenting a simple open economy neo-Kaleckian model with government activity, the essay analytically derives an expression for the time of adjustment, defined as the time required for the system to make a $ k $ percent adjustment from one steady-state to another. The second chapter seeks to answer the question of \textit{when is the long run} in long-run growth models driven by demand. By making use of numerical integration, the essay analyses the time of adjustment from one steady-state to the other in two well-known demand-led growth models: the Sraffian Supermultiplier and the fully-adjusted version of the neo-Kaleckian model. The third chapter of the dissertation presents a business cycle model encompassing the short-run effect of mobilizing green investment to achieve longer-term climate goals. In doing so, the chapter focuses on the dynamics of green and brown investment, assessing whether the interplay between green and capital formation, on one hand, and CO2 emissions, on the other, may allow for conditions of coupling or decoupling - speeding up or slowing down the path towards net-zero emissions.