Abstract
1.1 — The obverse of the theme, or the effects of industrial policies on Italian public enterprises, will not be dealt with here. My theme will be narrowed down — apart from a few generalizations — to the study of the role of industrial enterprises whose shares are owned by the State (1) as instruments of industrial policy. It is the presence of these firms that underscores the uniqueness of the Italian system, not that of public enterprises: though the effects on industry of the latter are clearly evident, they are usually created to achieve a purpose related to the specific goods and servicies they produce.
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Notes
Market failure is more a series of exceptions than a theoretical category. Only the “disequilibrium” school of thought generalizes this concept (see Fitoussi J.P.: Modern Macroeconomic Theory, an Overview, Oxford, Oxford Blackwell, 1983), based on the assumption that markets exist which are incapable of exausting supply or of satisfying potential demand. When Hicks (in Capital and Growth) subdivides flex- and fixed-price sectors (markets), the presence of market failure is implied. Since this leads to the creation of a macroeconomic disequilibrium, macroeconomic disequilibrium policies may well be justified. Nowadays, however, it is difficult to distinguish between such policies and simple pragmatism.
For a recent survey. see Aronica A.: «La privatizzazione delle PP. SS.» in Dr. Mayo A. (ed.): Le politiche di privatizzazione in Italia, Bologna. il Mulino. 1989.
Pages 85–98 of the Bank Of Italy: Annual Report (May 1990) clearly illustrate the slowdown in Italian small businesses during the eighties.
See Leon P.: «L’impresa sovietica e la perestroika» in Note di ricerca Cles, no. 2, March 1990.
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© 1993 SIPI Srl, Rivista di Politica Economica
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Leon, P. (1993). Public Enterprises and Industrial Policies. In: Baldassarri, M. (eds) Industrial Policy in Italy, 1945–90. Central Issues in Contemporary Economic Theory and Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22985-7_4
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