This paper examines the influence of high performance work practices (HPWPs) and industrial relations (IR) on firm propensity for product and process innovation. The authors distinguish between two styles of workplace governance – democratic and autocratic – based on whether the management...

The chapter first introduces Tarantelli’s thought on the role of labour economics and social pacts. The implementation of his proposals for a social pact in Italy is then discussed and compared to similar experiences in Europe. Attention is finally devoted to developing a theory of social...

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...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the coherence between competency mismatches and the objective of European policymakers to transform the higher education system through the Bologna Process and the Dublin Descriptors, moving from the transfer of knowledge from the teacher to...

This introduction provides a survey of the collected papers. At the same time it develops an critical analysis designed to illustrate the file rouge which links the material included in this special issue.

The theoretical result according to which the wage is higher when bargaining and efficiency wages interact, is tested by estimating a formally derived wage equation on an Italian firm-level panel from 1990 to 1999. The 1993 July Agreement, which fostered the adoption of decentralised incentive...

This comprehensive and groundbreaking Handbook integrates economic and organization theories to help elucidate the design and evolution of economic organization. Economic organization is regarded both as a subject of inquiry and as an emerging disciplinary field in its own right, integrating...

Job, workplace and human resource management (HRM) designs are nowadays at the centre of great attention in economic analysis. New work practices are becoming the cornerstone of an approach to flexibility from within the firm which is credited with a significant contribution to sustainable...