In these last decades, the market has increasingly become a normative paradigm also for law (administrative law, environmental law, labor law, international law…). The main reasons lie in the alleged capacity of the market to promote not only efficiency, but also justice. With regard to this last claim, the values most often invoked include freedom, responsibility and merit. The main objective of the course is to present these reasons to the students as well as the main objections that can be addressed to them. The underlying assumption is that too often the positions and proposals about the role of markets in society, be they of praise or blame, reflect ideological biases. A considered reflection is essential to understand the attractiveness and the limitations of an institution as important as the market is.
teacher profile teaching materials
PART 1. THE CONTRIBUTION OF ECONOMICS AND ETHICS TO THE EVALUATION OF THE MARKET
Justifications of the market: a) efficiency (the central value of welfare economics); b) freedom; c) merit and d) positive consequences of the markets (trickle down, "civilization of custom"....). Implications for market design (do we need competition? )
Criticisms: a) the ethical limits of efficiency; b) the "partiality" of market freedoms and the weight of power; c) the limits of the meritocratic justification and d) negative consequences of the markets (commodification, corruption of non-market values ... ..). Implications for market design.
The notion of trade-off between efficiency and justice
PART 2. CAN WE JUSTIFY CURRENT MARKET INEQUALITIES?
Some premises: a) alternative definitions and measurements of poverty and inequality; b) trends in market inequalities in the main OECD countries with a focus on the USA and Italy.
Evaluation of market inequalities: a) the process dimension (the role of globalization, technological change, financialization, changes in the structure and governance of companies, labor market deregulation); b) the consequences of market inequalities.
PART 3. PRESENTATION OF CASE-STUDIES CHOSEN BY THE STUDENTS
Examples of case-study include the assessment of
- different schemes of anti-trust intervention and different regimes of intellectual property rights
- different pro-competitive/quasi-market schemes within the public sector
- different minimum income schemes vs. basic income
- the deregulation of the labor market
- the creation of environmental markets
- the extension of competition in the European Union
(other topics, again for illustrative purposes only, include: the commons as an alternative to market supply? The desirability of salary caps?"
CHAPTER 2, 3, M. FRANZINI, E. GRANAGLIA, M. RAITANO DOBBIAMO PREOCCUPARCI DEI RICCHI, 2016 Il Mulino, Bologna.
CHAPTER 1, 2, 3, E. GRANAGLIA, EFFICIENZA E EQUITA' NELLE POLITICHE PUBBLICHE,1988 ANGELI, MILANO
CAPITOLI 2, 3 (until p. 105). M. BALDINI, S. TOSO, DISUGUAGLIANZA, POVERTA' E POLITICHE PUBBLICHE, 2004, Il Mulino, Bologna
ADDITIONAL GRAPHS ON THE DEVELOPMENT MARKET INEQUALITY AND POVERTY WILL BE ACCESSIBLE IN THE E-LEARNING SITE.
FOR THE STUDENTS NOT ATTENDING THE COURSE
CHAPTER 2, 3, M. FRANZINI, E. GRANAGLIA, M. RAITANO DOBBIAMO PREOCCUPARCI DEI RICCHI, 2016 Il Mulino, Bologna
CHAPTER 2, 3, A. SEN, ETICA E ECONOMIA, 2019 Laterza, Bari
M. FRANZINI, M. PIANTA, DISUGUAGLIANZE: QUANTE SONO, COME COMBATTERLE, 2016, Laterza, BarI
CHAPTER 2, 3 (until p. 105), M. BALDINI, S. TOSO, DISUGUAGLIANZA, POVERTA' E POLITICHE PUBBLICHE, 2004, Il Mulino, Bologna.
Programme
THE COURSE IS DIVIDED IN THREE PARTSPART 1. THE CONTRIBUTION OF ECONOMICS AND ETHICS TO THE EVALUATION OF THE MARKET
Justifications of the market: a) efficiency (the central value of welfare economics); b) freedom; c) merit and d) positive consequences of the markets (trickle down, "civilization of custom"....). Implications for market design (do we need competition? )
Criticisms: a) the ethical limits of efficiency; b) the "partiality" of market freedoms and the weight of power; c) the limits of the meritocratic justification and d) negative consequences of the markets (commodification, corruption of non-market values ... ..). Implications for market design.
The notion of trade-off between efficiency and justice
PART 2. CAN WE JUSTIFY CURRENT MARKET INEQUALITIES?
Some premises: a) alternative definitions and measurements of poverty and inequality; b) trends in market inequalities in the main OECD countries with a focus on the USA and Italy.
Evaluation of market inequalities: a) the process dimension (the role of globalization, technological change, financialization, changes in the structure and governance of companies, labor market deregulation); b) the consequences of market inequalities.
PART 3. PRESENTATION OF CASE-STUDIES CHOSEN BY THE STUDENTS
Examples of case-study include the assessment of
- different schemes of anti-trust intervention and different regimes of intellectual property rights
- different pro-competitive/quasi-market schemes within the public sector
- different minimum income schemes vs. basic income
- the deregulation of the labor market
- the creation of environmental markets
- the extension of competition in the European Union
(other topics, again for illustrative purposes only, include: the commons as an alternative to market supply? The desirability of salary caps?"
Core Documentation
FOR THE STUDENTS ATTENDING THE COURSECHAPTER 2, 3, M. FRANZINI, E. GRANAGLIA, M. RAITANO DOBBIAMO PREOCCUPARCI DEI RICCHI, 2016 Il Mulino, Bologna.
CHAPTER 1, 2, 3, E. GRANAGLIA, EFFICIENZA E EQUITA' NELLE POLITICHE PUBBLICHE,1988 ANGELI, MILANO
CAPITOLI 2, 3 (until p. 105). M. BALDINI, S. TOSO, DISUGUAGLIANZA, POVERTA' E POLITICHE PUBBLICHE, 2004, Il Mulino, Bologna
ADDITIONAL GRAPHS ON THE DEVELOPMENT MARKET INEQUALITY AND POVERTY WILL BE ACCESSIBLE IN THE E-LEARNING SITE.
FOR THE STUDENTS NOT ATTENDING THE COURSE
CHAPTER 2, 3, M. FRANZINI, E. GRANAGLIA, M. RAITANO DOBBIAMO PREOCCUPARCI DEI RICCHI, 2016 Il Mulino, Bologna
CHAPTER 2, 3, A. SEN, ETICA E ECONOMIA, 2019 Laterza, Bari
M. FRANZINI, M. PIANTA, DISUGUAGLIANZE: QUANTE SONO, COME COMBATTERLE, 2016, Laterza, BarI
CHAPTER 2, 3 (until p. 105), M. BALDINI, S. TOSO, DISUGUAGLIANZA, POVERTA' E POLITICHE PUBBLICHE, 2004, Il Mulino, Bologna.
Type of delivery of the course
seminar with student participationType of evaluation
Oral presentation of a case study chosen by the student (30 minutes max) and an oral exam consisting of three open questions. The first question concerns the presentation, by the students, of the position in favor or against the market that they consider more convincing and the reasons for their choice. The objective is essentially to verify the knowledge of the arguments about the desirable and the critical aspects of the market and the reasoning ability of the students. The second question aims at verfying the knowledge of the different definitions and measures of poverty and inequality. The focus will be on a definition and a measure among those studied. Finally, the third question concerns the analysis of one of the graphs studied on the trend of inequality. The goal is here to verify the ability of students to understand the graphs.