Il Jobs Act: principi ispiratori, contenuti e primi effetti

This paper describes the main features of the Jobs Act”, i.e. the new legislation on employment protection, unemployment benefits and active labour market policy, that has been approved by the Italian Parliament in 2014. The new policy measures have lowered the firing costs of firms by limiting the right of the worker to be reinstated in the firm following unfair dismissal. This measure has been accompanied by a sizeable fiscal incentive to firms that hire workers with an open-ended contract. Given the short time that elapsed from the implementation of these measures, very few studies have tried to evaluate their impact on the labour market. The available empirical evidence shows that the hiring incentive has boosted the creation of permanent jobs, while the effect of the new rules on unfair dismissals appears so far rather weak. More time will be needed to analyse not only the impact of the now higher labour flexibility, but also the effects of reforming passive and active labour market policies.Il saggio descrive le principali caratteristiche e Jobs Act, la nuova legislazione sulla protezione dell’impiego, i sussidi di disoccupazione e le politiche attive del lavoro, approvate dal Parlamento italiano nel 2014. Le nuove misure hanno abbattuto i costi del licenziamento limitando il diritto al rintegro dopo un licenziamento senza giusta causa. Queste misure sono state accompagnate da un significativo incentivo fiscale per le imprese che assumevano lavoratori con contratti a tempo indeterminato. Dati il breve periodo di tempi intercorso dall’introduzione di queste misure, sono pochi gli studi che hanno tentato di valutarne gli effetti sul mercato del lavoro. L’evidenza empirica disponibile mostra che gli incentivi alle assunzioni hanno spinto la creazione di posizioni di lavoro a tempo indeterminato, mentre l’effetto delle nuove regole sui licenziamenti senza giusta causa sembrano piuttosto deboli. Più tempo è necessario per analizzare non solo l’impatto della maggior flessibilità del lavoro, ma anche gli effetti della riforma delle politiche passive e attive del lavoro

The Paganico holes (Lucca plain, Tuscany) produced by indiscriminate water pumping in a fragile hydrogeological context

Paganico is a little village located in the south-eastern portion of the Lucca plain (north-western Tuscany, Italy). Since the sixties, it is interested by a rather unusual phenomenon: the opening of little holes and collapses in the ground surface. At the beginning, such phenomena were sporadic, but since the eighties their frequency and intensity increased. At present, many zones of the Paganico area are interested by holes and collapses. Their size sometimes reaches 2 m in diameter and depth. The opening of the holes mainly occurs at the end of the dry season, during or immediately after the first important and intense rainfall events, which normally characterize, in this area, the end of the summer and the beginning of the autumn. At present, the collapse phenomena are producing many problems to the population and agricultural activity of the area, but their causes are not so clear. For such reasons, this research provides a contribute in order to comprehend the triggering mechanism and evolution of the holes, with relation to the stratigraphic, hydrogeological and geotechnical features of the materials involved. It seems clear that the holes opening is directly linked to the strong pumping through an aquifer with particular hydro-structural conditions, as pointed out by the geological, hydrogeological and geotechnical surveys carried out in this area. The Paganico underground is in fact characterized by three horizons with different lithologic, hydrogeological and geotechnical features: a superficial silt-sandy horizon (1-3 m thick), which is particularly interested by the collapses; an intermediate silt-clayey horizon (1-3 m thick); a lower and thick gravel-pebbly horizon, interested by an important water circulation and heavy pumping. Since the seventies, such water pumping has considerably rose, due to the local demographic (well-field), and, above all, industrial development (paper manufacture). Therefore, this area is characterized by the presence of two water tables: a temporary one, located in the superficial silt-sandy horizon, and a second one, located in the lower gravel-pebbly horizon. Such water tables are separated by the less permeable silt-clayey horizon. The latter probably tends to fracture by desiccation during the dry season, originating water exchange between the two water tables during the first important autumnal rainfall events. The formation of fractures would interest also the superficial horizon. Thus, the water exchange would produce erosive phenomena in the superficial material, with removal of the fine fraction. This process could be at the base of the holes opening

Temporary Employment, Job Flows and Productivity: A Tale of Two Reforms

We investigate the effects of two reforms of temporary employment using panel data on Italian firms. We exploit variation in their implementation across regions and sectors for identification. Our results show that the reform of apprenticeship contracts increased job turnover and induced the substitution of external staff with firms\u2019 apprentices, with an overall productivity-enhancing effect. The reform of fixed-term contracts instead did not produce the intended results: it induced a substitution of temporary employees in favour of external staff and reduced capital intensity, generating productivity losses. We estimate substitution elasticities across various types of temporary contracts that are consistent with this interpretation