ECONOMICS, WELFARE ORGANIZATION AND POLICIES

Academic Year 2024/2025 - Teacher: Antonio D'AGATA

Expected Learning Outcomes

The course deals with the main elements of the Economics of Organization. It emphasizes the role of organizations as alternative tools to markets in managing interdependences due to the division of labour. The course also considers some issues concerning welfare policies.

Course Structure

lectures

Required Prerequisites

Elementary notions of microeconomics.

Attendance of Lessons

Attendance is not required but strongly encouraged

Detailed Course Content

Division of labour, markets and transaction cost

The transaction cost theory of firm

Asymmetric information and solutions

Interdependence and organization

The fundamental issues in organization theory: motivation, coordination, and knowledge management

Organization design

Proposals for an inclusive capitalism

Textbook Information

1. Appunti del docente (available by the teacher), in addition

2. E. Zaninotto, M. Zamarian, Organizzare. L'impresa tra forme emergenti e progetto, Il Mulino, 2012, Introduzione, Capitoli I, II, III, IV, V (only 119-127) and VI.

3. E. Sassoon (a cura di), Per un capitalismo inclusivo. La società più giusta che vogliamo. Harvard Business Review Italia, Strategiqs Edizioni 2022 (With particular reference to Appendice and the articles by Martin, Battilana and Casciaro, Polman e Winston, and Henderson).

Previous arrangement with the teacher, book 3 can be replaced by one of the following books:

- A. Alesina and E.L.Glaeser, Fighting Poverty in the US and Europe: A World of Difference, Oxford University Press, 2004, Chapter III, IV, VI (no section 6.4), VII (it is expected the student read the remaining chapters)

- R.E. Wright, A. Przegalinska, Debating Universal Basic Income. Prons, Cons, and Alternatives, Palgrave MacMillan, 2022.

Course Planning

	Subjects	Text References
1	Division of labour and markets	Appunti del docente
2	Markets and transactions costs	Appunti del docente
3	Markets and the coordination of economic activities	Appunti del docente
4	Firms and the coordination of the economic activity	Appunti del docente
5	Asimmetric information and the hold-up problem	Appunti del docente
6	The organizational problem: division of labour	Zaninotto-Zamarian, Ch. I
7	Interdependences and the characteristics of firm	Zaninotto-Zamarian, Ch. II
8	Incentives and rewards	Zaninotto-Zamarian, Ch. III
9	Hierarchy and coordination	Zaninotto-Zamarian, Ch. IV
10	Organization and distributed knowledge	Zaninotto-Zamarian, Ch. V, Section 1
11	Organizational design: Governance, structures and practices	Zaninotto-Zamarian, Ch. VI

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

Written exam (in Italian). Four open questions. Time: 80 minutes.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

Costi di transazione. Soluzioni all’informazione asimmetrica. L’impresa secondo la teoria dei costi di transazione. Alle origini del problema organizzativo: La divisione del lavoro. Il problema del team e la nascita dell’organizzazione. Struttura delle relazioni e allineamento degli obiettivi. L’ allineamento delle aspettative. La gestione del coordinamento. Cos’è il valore condiviso e come si crea secondo Porter e Kramer. Il nuovo modello d’impresa secondo Martin

Degree Course in

Policies and Social Services