@techreport{NBERw7387,
 title = "Redistribution Through Public Employment: The Case of Italy",
 author = "Alberto Alesina and Stephan Danninger and Massimo Rostagno",
 institution = "National Bureau of Economic Research",
 type = "Working Paper",
 series = "Working Paper Series",
 number = "7387",
 year = "1999",
 month = "October",
 URL = "http://www.nber.org/papers/w7387",
 abstract = {This paper examines the regional distribution of public employment in Italy.  It documents two sets of facts.  This first is the use of public employment as a subsidy from the North to the less wealthy South.  We calculate that about half of the wage bill in the South of Italy can be identified as a subsidy.  Both the size of public employment and the level of wages are used as a redistributive device.  The second set of facts concerns the effects of a subsidized public employment on individuals' attitudes toward job search, education, 'risk taking' activities etc.  Public employment discourages the development of market activities in the South.},
}