1,721,136 research outputs found
Ispettori del lavoro e street-level bureaucracy. Gestire le irregolarità lavorative tra spinte isomorfe e spazi discrezionali
Full text linkThis article builds on previous studies concerning street-level bureaucracy (SLB), an expression coined by Lipsky to highlight the importance of the discretionary power that professionals in public agencies exercise during the implementation of laws, standards and guidelines. Connecting SLB theoretical framework and the new institutional organizational analysis, this article puts in how labour inspectors use their discretionary power when dealing with similar work irregularities in different organizational fields. Based on 9 months of participant observations and vignette interviews in a local office of the Italian Labour Inspectorate, the article aims to extend the range of both theories
Is volatility lognormal? Evidence from Italian futures
No full textWe study the unconditional volatility distribution of the Italian futures market, measuring it via Fourier analysis. Our data set consists of all tick-by-tick transactions in 2000 and 2001, a period characterized by unusually high volatility levels in its final part, because of the dramatic events following 11 September 2001. Our results show that the standard assumption of lognormal unconditional volatility has to be rejected for such a turbulent sample, since it is unable to capture the tail behavior of the distribution; a much better description is provided by a Pareto tail. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
Professionalità studi. Focus: Le professioni della discrezionalità. Professionalità e discrezionalità tra gli street-level bureaucrats
No full textLa prospettiva della street-level bureaucracy (Lipsky, 1980) concentra la sua analisi sul potere discrezionale che i professionisti impegnati in agenzie pubbliche adottano nell’implementare norme e direttive generali. Sono street-level bureaucrats i professionisti a contatto diretto con i cittadini. Essi si trovano spesso nelle condizioni di utilizzare un sostanziale spazio di discrezionalità nelle loro decisioni relative all’erogazione di benefici o sanzioni. Si tratta di operatori sociali, educatori, membri delle forze dell’ordine, appartenenti a corpi ispettivi ed altro, le cui pratiche traducono concretamente norme astratte, adattandole alle reali situazioni, trovando compromessi tra la limitatezza delle risorse a disposizione e le richieste dei cittadini, tra le pressioni esterne e le proprie valutazioni e interpretazioni delle norme.
Questo approccio si è particolarmente affermato nei paesi anglosassoni (Piore, 2011; Brodkin, 2008; Harrison e Dowswell, 2002; Hill, 2013) e in Nord Europa (Hupe, 2010; Buffat, 2013; Loyens, 2016; Nielsen, 2016), ma ha trovato limitata risonanza in Italia.
La specificità delle “burocrazie al livello della strada” è quella di operare in contesti con finalità generali, non facilmente riconducibili a procedure ben definite o standardizzate, che affidano agli operatori spazi di discrezionalità decisionale, ma anche grande responsabilità.
Questo numero monografico si propone di raccogliere riflessioni di natura teorica provenienti da discipline differenti e contributi empirici, che approfondiscano la discrezionalità attivata in diversi campi di intervento da parte dei professionisti “al livello della strada”, mettendola in relazione con le recenti trasformazioni delle rispettive professioni
Le politiche del lavoro in Germania
No full textGeissler B. Le politiche del lavoro in Germania. In: Magatti M, Rizza R, eds. Le Politiche del Lavoro. Un quadro comparativo. Sociologia del lavoro. Vol 84. Milano: Franco Angeli:: Angeli; 2002: 52-75
Bridging gaps: how investment in public childcare affects women’s employment in Italy and Spain
Full text linkThis paper aims to establish whether, and to what extent, an increase in the public provision of early childhood education and care services (ECEC) has had a positive effect on women’s participation in the labour market in Italy and Spain. It does so by compiling panel data using microdata from the European Labour Force Survey (2006–2018), together with secondary sources of information on public ECEC investment made in the two countries. After controlling for unit heterogeneity and reverse causality, the estimated results indicate a positive correlation with the employment rates of women with children and the number of hours worked, in particular for those without a degree, thus indicating the need to address unequal access to publicly-provided ECEC services
Digital and analogical discretion: an exploratory study of Italian street-level bureaucrats
Full text linkPurpose – The article examines how street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) manage the digital bureaucratic relationship in dealing with customer needs and the technological innovations introduced into organisations (digital tools). The topic of technological transformations from a street-level perspective has garnered limited interest so far, especially in Italy. The research question underlying the article is as follows: how does the discretion of SLBs change with the introduction of digital tools within the public administration? We expect that the characteristics of clients on the one hand, and the degree of institutionalisation of the digital tool in question on the other, will change the way in which SLBs exercise their discretion.
Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected from two separate research projects in which the authors were involved: (1) the first was a doctoral research project concerning labour inspectors tasked with investigating labour irregularities reported by workers; (2) the second was a research project regarding the relationship between the elderly and public service caseworkers. Information gathered through a series of semi- structured interviews was analysed, with a focus on the digitalisation process. The interviewees included 15 labour inspectors, and 12 long-term care caseworkers. With regard to the interviews conducted with labour inspectors, we examined the online request for action submitted by workers reporting irregularities in their employment relationships. As regards the interviews with caseworkers involved in services for the elderly, the discussion revolved around the option introduced during the pandemic period in 2020, to request access to the services in question through submission of an online form rather than requesting such services in person. Findings – What emerges is that while the introduction of digitalised policies allows SLBs to obtain more information with which to assess the situation of individuals, the discretionary power exercised by front-line workers only results in the partial use of the digital tool, whilst favouring the traditional relationship between bureaucrats and their clients.
Originality/value – We introduce the concepts of “digital discretion” and “analogic discretion” in an attempt to understand how SLBs use their decision-making powers, which may prove to be useful analytical tools for studying the ways in which the discretion of SLBs is realised through new digital practices
Labour market policies: de-regulation, inclusion, and dualisation
Full text linkThis book focuses on the economic and social inequalities that have grown within Western capitalist democracies, examining with care the differences between countries rooted in their culture and institutions. It highlights the reaction of advanced democracies to the new challenges brought about by globalization and technological innovation, pointing to the role of endogenous institutions that affect social inequalities as well as the relationship between redistribution and economic growth. The book presents extensive comparative research on institutional factors such as industrial relations, welfare systems, training, and innovation policies. Paying attention to diverse types of democracies and to the main features of left-wing parties, this contribution also emphasizes the generally overlooked role of politics, and of different types of democracies, in shaping social inequalities and diverse development paths. It will appeal to students and scholars interested in economic and labour sociology, welfare studies, com-parative political economy, comparative welfare, varieties of capitalism, and comparative politics
When the workplace is the home: Labour inspectors' discretionary power in the field of domestic work - An institutional analysis
Full text linkThis article builds on previous studies concerning the question of street-level bureaucracy, an expression coined by Lipsky (1980)–Street-Level Bureaucracy. Dilemmas of theIndividual in Public Services(New York: Russel Sage Foundation) – to highlight the importance of the discretionary power that professionals in public agencies exercise during theimplementation of laws, standards and guidelines. Discretion may depend on the need to compromise between the limited resources available and the claims of citizens, or between administrative policy directives and assessments, on the one hand, and their interpretation by “street-level” bureaucrats, on the other. This article focuses on the dilemmas that labour inspectors face when dealing with employment irregularities involving domestic workers. Based on nine months of observations in a local office of the Italian Labour Inspectorate, it aims to understand how labour inspectors make use of their discretionary power when theworkplace is the home. This article connects studies of street-level bureaucracy with the new institutional organisational analysis, focusing on the isomorphic pressures from the institutional field in which the labour inspectors operate, together with the manner in which such pressures shape labour inspectors’discretion. Through this connection, the article aims to extend the scope of both theories
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