TY  - JOUR
AU  - Alesina,Alberto
AU  - Danninger,Stephan
AU  - Rostagno,Massimo
TI  - Redistribution Through Public Employment: The Case of Italy
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 7387
PY  - 1999
Y2  - October 1999
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7387
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7387.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Alberto F. Alesina
Department of Economics
Harvard University
Littauer Center 210
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/495-8388
Fax: 617/495-7730
E-Mail: aalesina@harvard.edu

Massimo Rostagno
European Central Bank
Postfach 16-03-19
D-60066 Frankfurt am Main
GERMANY
E-Mail: Massimo.Rostagno@ecb.int
AB  - 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.
ER  -