Local Welfare for Social Inclusion: A New Institutional Approach to Welfare Policy Reform in Italy

Abstract

In the current political-institutional debate in Europe, starting from '90, about local development incentives and promotion of innovative enterprises, our focus is on welfare reform based on decentralization, as power devolution to local agencies and communities. This new approach on welfare policies is relevant for local development and social inclusion, increasing opportunity-set of employment and promoting local partnership. We interpret local welfare restructuring design in Italy (L.328/2000). The aim of the paper is twofold:

1. following New Institutional Economics, we interpret this legislation as an institutional framework, i.e. a policy device that enforces local development, by reducing transaction costs and creating positive externalities;

2. through direct interviews in an area of Mezzogiorno, we investigate on if and how local agents perceived opportunities of this Reform: the Piano di Zona represents an innovative institutional solution.

Our provisional conclusion is that the case-study could be a "best practise" for policy makers in this field.

Keywords: policymaking, local welfare, institutions, history, expectations

JEL Classification: B4, H7, O2