D'Ippoli i, Ca lo
A icle
Edi o ial: I aly's "Cha e o Wo ke s' Righ s" u ns i y
PSL Qua e ly Re iew
P o ided in Coope a ion wi h:
Associazione Economia ci ile, Rome
Sugges ed Ci a ion: D'Ippoli i, Ca lo (2021) : Edi o ial: I aly's "Cha e o Wo ke s' Righ s" u ns i y,
PSL Qua e ly Re iew, ISSN 2037-3643, Associazione Economia ci ile, Rome, Vol. 74, Iss. 297, pp.
95-98,
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ol. 74 n. 297 (June 2021)
I aly’s “Cha e o Wo ke s’ Righ s” u ns i y
CARLO D’IPPOLITI
Abs ac :
This sho edi o ial in oduces he con ibu ions o a
special issue celeb a ing he i ie h anni e sa y o
he I alian S a u o dei la o a o i (Cha e o
Wo ke s’ Righ s). Such anni e sa y bo h ea i ms
how c ucial wo ke s’ mo emen s ha e been o he
design and implemen a ion o p og essi e policies in
Eu ope, and—by con as —highligh s cu en
di icul ies.
Sapienza Uni e si y o Rome,
e-mail: ca lo.dippoli i@uni oma1.i
How o ci e his a icle:
D’Ippoli i C. (2021), “I aly’s “Cha e o Wo ke s’
Righ s” u ns i y”, PSL Qua e ly Re iew, 74 (297):
95-98
DOI: h ps://doi.o g/10.13133/2037-3643/17564
JEL codes:
J08, J28, J53
Keywo ds:
edi o ial, Cha e o Wo ke s’ Righ s
Jou nal homepage:
h p: //www.pslqua e ly e iew.in o
The deba e on he inequi y o income and weal h (mal-)dis ibu ion is inc easingly
in e wined wi h hose on secula s agna ion and he p ospec s o a quick eco e y a e he
Co id-c isis, and ha on who has had (and is going) o ca y he bu den o he cu en c isis.
This con ex ma ks he i ie h anni e sa y o he Cha e o Wo ke s’ Righ s in I aly, a ounding
pilla o he egula ion o indus ial ela ions and labo ma ke policy in he coun y. Ou
Re iew (join ly wi h Mone a e C edi o
1
) de o es a special issue o his anni e sa y, bo h o
ea i m how c ucial wo ke s’ mo emen s ha e been o he design and implemen a ion o
p og essi e policies in Eu ope, and—by con as — o highligh cu en di icul ies.
On he one hand, wo ke s’ unioniza ion has his o ically con ibu ed o a educ ion o
inequali y, and hen i s decline has led o an inc ease in inequali y in he pas ew decades
(Fa be e al., 2021); and be e paying, s able employmen has been shown o posi i ely
con ibu e o p oduc i i y g ow h (Sylos Labini, 1983; o he case o I aly: Lucidi and
Kleinknech , 2010; see also Alenca e al., 2021, in his issue). On he o he hand, as he essays
in his collec ion discuss (Roncaglia, 2021; Pasquino, 2021; and Simonazzi, 2021), pe iods o
igh e labo ma ke s ha e o en been conduci e o mo e p og essi e economic policies bo h
in e ms o mac oeconomic policy and o ma ke egula ion.
Ye , be o e he pandemic hi , he gene alized end was o dwindling ba gaining powe o
wo ke s, and o an unbalanced mac oeconomic policy mix in bo h he USA and Eu ope, and an
1
See ol. 74, n. 293, a ailable a www.mone aec edi o.in o.
Edi o ial
96 I aly’s “Cha e o Wo ke s’ Righ s” u ns i y
PSL Qua e ly Re iew
ambiguous si ua ion among low income and eme ging economies. All majo cu ency a eas
we e al eady ca ying on he e y expansiona y mone a y policies hey had launched in he
a e ma h o he 2007-2008 c isis (when hey used o be e e ed o as “uncon en ional”
policies). Fiscal policy was mo e di e en ia ed, as shown in igu e 1. While he USA has always
exhibi ed a mo e expansiona y iscal policy s ance han he EU, unde he T ump
adminis a ion i s a ed again enla ging i s public sec o de ici as a sha e o GDP, again wi h
an impo an ole o ax cu s in pa icula . In con as he EU, s a ing om a lowe de ici han
he USA, kep on educing i e en u he . Gi en he public deb and he ne in e na ional
in es men posi ions o he wo a eas, hese ends imply a enewed end owa ds he g ow h
o global mac oeconomic imbalances. Only China, a majo cu en accoun su plus and ne
c edi o coun y, had s a ed o co ec i s posi ion be o e he pandemic, and con inued o do
so he ea e .
Figu e 1. Fiscal policy up o he pandemic: gene al go e nmen de ici
Sou ce: Eu os a .
In Eu ope, all membe s a es ha e ag eed, and hen hey ha e been asked by he EU
Commission and Council, o ollow a same expo -led g ow h s a egy. Public sec o aus e i y
– in he loose sense o educ ion and con ainmen o gene al go e nmen de ici s in all
coun ies simul aneously and independen ly bo h o economic condi ions and o he le el and
composi ion o e enues and expendi u es – is he mos isible and openly deba ed ing edien
o his s a egy (including on he pages o ou jou nal). Bu no less ele an a e wha
mains eam economis s con oundingly call ‘s uc u al e o ms,’ by which hey ypically mean
labo ma ke e o ms aimed a educing wo ke s’ ba gaining powe and/o inc easing labo
supply, and p i a iza ions and o he e o ms (e.g. o pension sys ems) aimed a inc easing he
each o ma ke s a he expense o he public p o ision o goods and se ices, in pa icula
inancial ma ke s.
In e ms o labo ma ke policies, EU membe s a es a e slowly con e ging owa ds lowe
le els o employmen p o ec ion, especially o wo ke s on empo a y con ac s, as shown in
-16
-14
-12
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019
EU-27 China USA
C. D’Ippoli i 97
PSL Qua e ly Re iew
igu e 2. In some coun ies, hese policies ha e had some ela i ely posi i e byp oduc s, mainly
a educ ion o ex e nal deb and/o an inc ease in employmen ( hough his is mos ly low-wage
and p eca ious employmen , s imula ed by he educ ion o labo cos s a he han by an
inc ease in he demand o goods and se ices).
2
Howe e , hese a e side e ec s in he sense
ha hey a e no wha hese policies p ima ily aim a . Excep o inancializa ion and
p i a iza ions (which a e mo e clea ly neolibe al han o dolibe al policies), he common
o e a ching goal o aus e i y and s uc u al (coun e -) e o ms is consolida ing he EU as a
whole as an expo -led economy.
Figu e 2. Labo ma ke policy in he EU up o he pandemic: OECD S ic ness o Employmen
P o ec ion indexes
No es: single Membe S a es in g ey, simple EU a e age in black (unweigh ed, da a only a ailable o 20 EU
coun ies).
Sou ce: OECD.
Wi hin his s a egy, all MSs simul aneously a e expec ed o g ow by expo ing mo e and
impo ing less, copying he g ow h s a egy ha se e al o MSs had success ully implemen ed
when hey we e small independen economies. Aus e i y wo ks almos au oma ically o ix
cu en accoun s de ici s, o i s nega i e impac on impo s. S uc u al e o ms educe labo
cos s in he hope o educing (expo ) p ices oo, hus making Eu ope he “mos compe i i e”
egion in he wo ld. I aus e i y c ea ed some unemploymen , and s uc u al e o ms inc eased
unemploymen by educing inac i i y, his was only hough by he p oponen s o his s a egy
as a bi e pill: a empo a y e il ha is necessa y as a mean o an end, which again is o p oduce
downwa d p essu e on wages and he e o e inc ease i ms’ cos compe i i eness.
2
This obse a ion is pe ec ly compa ible e en wi h mains eam economic heo y, which p edic s a g ow h in
employmen and wages i he e is an inc ease in i ms’ demand o labou , and an inc ease in employmen bu a
dec ease in wages i he e is an inc ease in wo ke s’ supply o labou .
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
EU a e age: egula con ac s EU a e age: empo a y con ac s
98 I aly’s “Cha e o Wo ke s’ Righ s” u ns i y
PSL Qua e ly Re iew
Con enien ly, wel a e s a e e enchmen is an example o how he wo policies can go hand in
hand.
The e a e o he nega i e e ec s o his s a egy – inc easing inequali y and in-wo k
po e y, dec easing wage sha e o income, wo sening public se ices, e c. – bu om he poin
o iew o he o e all g ow h s a egy, one is c ucial. The EU as a whole is he la ges economic
bloc globally, and he es o he wo ld does no ha e he capaci y o c ea e all he addi ional
agg ega e demand equi ed o d i e g ow h bo h o he EU’s economy and ha o he es o
he wo ld. This way, he EU is a d ag on global g ow h and a h ea o global inancial s abili y
( he e o e ensions wi h he USA we e bound o e up independen ly o T ump’s elec ion); as
well as he US is a low pe o me in i s own e ms, gi en ha he g ow h ha can be p oduced
by i s expo s has p o ed o be eeble and e a ic.
In conclusion, we can cha ac e ize he EU’s policy s ance in he unup o he 2020
economic c isis as based on a s uc u ally lowe iscal de ici han he USA, slowly con e ging
labo ma ke s owa ds lowe le els o employmen p o ec ion, and a mone a y policy ha
many pe cei ed as ha ing exhaus ed he le e s a i s disposal as well as, acco ding o some
obse e s, ha ing exceeded i s manda e in he ques o sa e he eu o. Wha will happen nex is
he objec o he cu en deba e wi h, on he one hand, he discussion on e o ming o
ein oducing he S abili y and G ow h Pac , and on he o he hand, he same old s uc u al
e o ms now being pushed no wi h he s ick o he Eu opean semes e bu wi h he ca o o
he Nex Gene a ion EU unds.
On he o he side o he A lan ic, unde a new adminis a ion he USA now aims o ound
a newly expansiona y iscal policy on public in es men and possibly social expendi u e, while
mone a y policy is slowly mo ing owa d a less expansiona y and in p ospec e en a es ic i e
s ance. This change isks c ea ing cu ency and deb sus ainabili y p oblems o lowe income
and eme ging economies, and e en in he EU i is unlikely o be igno ed. In he e y USA, a igh
labo ma ke is a p ime ing edien o “Bidenomics”, bu he e a e wa nings o isks o in la ion.
In all h ee a eas – USA, EU, eme ging economies – he p ospec s o add essing income
inequali y and laying he ounda ions o g ow h, as well as coping wi h global imbalances, will
depend on he ela i e ole and ba gaining powe o labo . Tha is why he his o ical discussion
in he p esen issue s ill ha e high opicali y.
Re e ences
Alenca D., Jayme J . F.G., B i o G. (2021), “A pos -Kaleckian model wi h p oduc i i y g ow h and eal exchange a e
applied o selec ed La in Ame ican coun ies”, PSL Qua e ly Re iew, 74 (297), pp. 126-146.
Fa be H.S., He bs D., Kuziemko I., Naidu S. (2021), “Unions and Inequali y o e he Twen ie h Cen u y: New
E idence om Su ey Da a”, The Qua e ly Jou nal o Economics, 136 (3), pp. 1325-1385.
Lucidi F., Kleinknech A. (2010), “Li le inno a ion, many jobs: An econome ic analysis o he I alian labou
p oduc i i y c isis”, Camb idge Jou nal o Economics, 34 (3), pp. 525–546.
Pasquino A. (2021), “Unde s anding he Cha e o Wo ke s’ Righ s in i s his o ical con ex ”, PSL Qua e ly Re iew,
74 (297), pp.107-113.
Roncaglia A. (2021), “Cons ic i e labo and he digni y o wo k”, PSL Qua e ly Re iew, 74 (297), pp. 99-105.
Simonazzi A. (2021), “Digni y o wo k and ull employmen ”, PSL Qua e ly Re iew, 74 (297), pp. 113-126.
Sylos Labini P. (1983), “Fac o s a ec ing changes in p oduc i i y”, Jou nal o Pos Keynesian Economics, 6 (2), pp.
161-179.