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A University of Sussex DPhil thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details SOCIALLY USEFUL JOBS: THE LAST KEYNESIAN LABOUR MARKET POLICY IN ITALY. POLICY PROCESS EVALUATION MIRELA BARBU PHD THESIS IN GEOGRAPHY SCHOOL OF GLOBAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX APRIL 2013 ii Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis has not been, and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signed(typed): Mirela Barbu iii UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX MIRELA BARBU – PHD IN GEOGRAPHY SOCIALLY USEFUL JOBS: THE LAST KEYNESIAN LABOUR MARKET POLICY IN ITALY. POLICY PROCESS EVALUATION SUMMARY The industrial restructuring of the 1970s, the sluggish economic growth of the 1980s and the difficult macroeconomic scenario of the early 1990s which preceded the Italy’s joining of the EMU, gradually reduced the space for Keynesian economic policies in the country. In certain geographical areas, unemployment remained high over a long period of time and the Italian state had to confront this situation which was becoming socially and politically unsustainable. The solution found involved the long-term unemployed in a wide range of activities provided by public bodies, called socially and publicly useful jobs. At the end of the 1990s, under pressure from neoliberalism, many public bodies outsourced their public services, labour market deregulation was pursued, while supply- side labour polices gained ground. This thesis examines the policy process during the paradigm shift, evaluates its impact on unemployment reduction, discusses the ways in which the policy’s outcomes were achieved, and highlights the role played by institutions during this long-term process. The approach chosen to evaluate the policy of socially and useful jobs distinguishes between three intrinsically linked stages of the policy process: policy-making, implementation and take-up. Recognising the central role of institutions in providing the context in which the policy process develops, the approach chosen for this analysis is historical-institutionalism. It is applied within the broader framework of the political economy which impacted on the transformation of the Italian welfare state and the rise of workfare practices. The policy process evaluation led to some interesting findings. Firstly, many unemployed were re-inserted into the labour market due to their participation in socially and publicly useful jobs. Secondly, the activities they delivered allowed the communities to avoid disruption to important services and helped the state to save funds through the use of an inexpensive and productive workforce. Thirdly, the public administrations considered the outsourcing of services successful when they received high quality services from workers who were already known to them and were easily managed. Fourthly, the participation of the private companies in the last stage of the policy did not guarantee efficiency gains and, in several cases, the public administrations preferred to employ the socially and publicly useful workers directly. iv Acknowledgments It is commonly acknowledged that PhD research is a long journey, and mine was more than I had expected when I began it, many years ago. During this intellectual sojourn I have become indebted to a large number of people who helped me to overcome difficulties, to maintain my enthusiasm and to learn the everyday practice of becoming a researcher. I would like to take the opportunity of thanking these people once again, and to acknowledge here the important help I received from them. The most important person was Mick Dunford, my PhD supervisor who, during many years spent working together, went beyond his normal duties of supervision. Apart from the more obvious advantages I benefited from being supervised by such an outstanding scholar, Mick was very supportive in difficult moments and helped me to find practical solutions to situations which initially appeared, to my eyes, irresolvable. This thesis assesses a labour policy and these kinds of policies, maybe more than any other, are made by people. In all public bodies there are civil servants who never lose enthusiasm for their work and, when the occasion arises, are happy to spend time and energy to help those interested in understanding the lengthy course of the policy process and its torturous routes towards operative decisions. Rosa Manca, Paolo Moser, Gaia Salera and Rosanna Del Signore helped me to obtain invaluable unpublished data from the Ministry of Labour and Italia Lavoro but, more importantly, they spent time giving me many details about how the policy functioned during its various stages. A large part of the thesis analyses qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews with policy makers. I would like to thank the former general manager of SCO, Mario Conclave who helped me to have some of the most stimulating interviews with the key policy stakeholders. Other very valuable interviews analysed within four case studies were possible due to the help of some of my former colleagues, and friends, who I would like to acknowledge here: Alessandro Augello, Giuseppe Siragusa and Paolo Pigliacelli. Without their vital expertise as policy middlemen, my data would have been far weaker. This thesis would not be readable today without the contribution of my English teachers. I am indebted to my fantastic friends Catherine (in Brighton) and James (in Rome) who did all their best to help me transform my Italian-style English, and to communicate my long and ‘complicated’ thoughts correctly and efficiently. If they have not succeeded, it is only my fault. Finally, this journey would have not been completed without the caring love and untiring support provided by my partner Raffaele. I dedicate this thesis to him and to the memory of my mother. TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ iv List of Tables.................................................................................................................. viii List of Figures and Boxes ................................................................................................. x List of Abbreviations........................................................................................................ xi Chapter 1: Socially useful jobs: an institutional approach to the policy process .............. 1 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Policy programmes evaluation: top-down and bottom-up approaches .............. 4 1.3 An historical-institutionalist approach to the policy process ............................. 6 1.4 The categorical framework to analyse the role of institutions during the policy process ......................................................................................................................... 10 1.4.1 Policy choice ............................................................................................. 11 1.4.2 Policy implementation .............................................................................. 12 1.4.3 Policy take-up............................................................................................ 13 1.5 Research methods relating to principal sets of data ......................................... 15 1.5.1 Combining quantitative and qualitative methods ...................................... 15 1.5.2 Policy process: data, sources and methods ............................................... 16 1.5.3 Different perspectives of the policy take-up: data, sources and methods . 19 1.5.4 Data analysis ............................................................................................. 20 1.5.5 Researcher’s positionality ......................................................................... 22 1.5.6 Ethical concerns ........................................................................................ 24 1.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 25 Chapter 2: Welfare state in the transition from Keynesianism to Monetarism ............... 28 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 28 2.2 Keynesianism, welfare state and unemployment ............................................. 30 2.2.1 Keynesianism and full employment .......................................................... 30 2.2.2 Welfare states ............................................................................................ 32 2.2.3 Italian peculiarities .................................................................................... 34 2.2.4 Fighting social exclusion: basic income ..................................................