Francesco Stolfi

The Europeanization of Italy's budget institutions in the 1990s

ABSTRACT This article examines the impact of European monetary integration on the reform of Italys budget institutions in the 1990s. Using an approach that explicitly assesses the impact of European factors on domestic change alongside domestic factors and that follows institutional change over long periods of time, the article concludes – contrary to much of the literature on Europes impact on Italy – that in fact Europe did not matter, or that at most it only mattered at the margin.

Learning-Shaping Crises: A Longitudinal Comparison of Public Personnel Reforms in Italy, 1992‒2014

Abstract This article analyses the attempts to reform public administration, notably personnel management, in Italy between 1992 and 2014, with a focus on implementation and the period following the multiple crises that have unfolded since 2008. By untangling the policy learning processes between multiple crises, past reform attempts and domestic and European “contexts in motion”, the article finds that efficiency-oriented reforms have floundered regardless of the political color of governments or indeed of the nature – political or technocratic – of the governments. Domestic factors, notably the frequency of government alternation, i.e. government instability, and European pressure have further reinforced the orientation towards single-loop lessons, i.e. the almost exclusive effecting of short-term cost-cutting measures.

Clientelistic budget cycles: evidence from health policy in the Italian regions

ABSTRACT Political budget cycles (PBCs), namely the manipulation of taxation or government spending close to elections, are an enduring topic in the study of economic policy-making. While the literature explains their occurrence based on information asymmetries between incumbents and voters, we argue that a source of variation in the extent of PBCs is, via the effect of clientelism, the level of economic development. In jurisdictions where voters have few economic opportunities outside those provided by the government, they will be highly dependent on the incumbents for their income. The latter can thus use clientelistic tools, such as their control over employment in the public sector, for electoral purposes. This argument is assessed with a study of health personnel spending in the Italian regions.

A more German Italy? Competition and the development of relationship lending

ABSTRACT Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, this article shows that since the 1990s, greater competition in Italys banking industry has pushed commercial banks to develop some of the institutions of relationship lending (RL) typical of coordinated economies, namely to develop closer relationships with firms. While these developments do not amount to full-fledged RL, our findings have, first, implications for the assessment of institutional developments in Italys political economy, providing evidence of increasing coordination against accounts, emphasizing stability or the disarticulation of existing institutional relations, and second, they qualify broader theoretical arguments on institutional change in national varieties of capitalism. Against standard arguments, the article suggests that increased competition can lead to tighter rather than looser coordination among economic actors. Finally, and more speculatively, the article presents some preliminary evidence that the commercial banks’ turn to RL might be contributing to the polarization of the Italian economy.

Budget Reform in Italy: Importing ‘Enlightened' Ideas in a Difficult Context

The Reality of Budgetary Reform in OECD Nations investigates the impacts and consequences of budgetary reform through a comparative assessment of advanced Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) democracies that have undertaken budget reforms over the past two to three decades.