The Italian Wage Curve. The Effects of the Recent Labour Market Reforms.

The Italian Wage Curve. The Effects of the Recent Labour Market Reforms The paper examines some effects of the recent reforms aimed at increasing flexibility in the Italian labour market. It shows their incapability to respond to the “inclusion” problem which still characterises the country. New temporary low-skill jobs were created but the reforms have neither enforced industrial competitiveness nor increased productivity. Far from solving the problems of a dual economy, de-regulation of Italian labour market has reinforced them and has concurrently eroded civil rights thereby making a departure form standards of health and morality. Excessive turnover of workers and firms is a major obstacle to human capital accumulation. A hostile territory produces social inequality, poverty and under- consumption that severely compromises growth. Key words: Labor and Demographic Economics; Wages, Compensation and Labor Costs; Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials JEL Classification: J, J3, J31 Final version received May 2008