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

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

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

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

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

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

In this paper we investigate the effects on the real gross wage of the collective bargaining agreements signed at the beginning of 2009 between the employers' confederations, trade unions (with the exception of CGIL, tha largest union) and the Government (as an employer). We use a dynamic model...

In this book leading European economists examine the current status of social pacts and their future. Particular focus is placed on the role of trade unions, and the positive role they can play for economic and social stability by agreeing to set wages on the basis of a target rate of inflation....