Fabio Bulfone
Biographic Data
| ID | 3857942 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Fabio Bulfone |
| GIVEN NAMES | Fabio |
| FAMILY NAME | Bulfone |
| SIGNATURE | BULFONE F |
| AFFILIATIONS | Leiden University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9278-7335 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 87 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Shifting paths? The evolution of Southern European growth trajectories in the post-Eurozone crisis decade (2010–9)
This article traces the growth trajectories of Southern European economies (Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) over the decade 2010–9. Drawing on Comparative Political Economy (CPE) literature, we derive three propositions regarding their growth profiles, performance in high value-added exports, and employment outcomes during this period. We then empirically assess these propositions using growth decompositions of adjusted aggregate demand as we…
Doing Industrial Policy in a Geo‐Tech World
In recent years, industrial policy has made a comeback across the globe, with governments increasingly willing to redirect economic activity towards strategically important technologies. While a growing literature has documented the drivers of this shift—ranging from geopolitical competition and climate imperatives to the resurgence of neo-mercantilist ideas—far greater strides have been made in understanding the why of industrial policy than the…
A Strong Regulator? The EU’s Uneven Regulatory Capacity in Green Industrial Policy
The European Union (EU) has recently re-embraced industrial policy as a central instrument of economic governance, driven in particular by the challenges of climate change and intensifying geopolitical competition. This article examines regulation as a key instrument through which the EU seeks to promote industrial transformation. We conceptualize regulatory industrial policy as operating through three channels—structuring markets, shaping produc…
The slumbering giant: Towards a Political Economy of Financialised Insurance
Published online: 05 August 2025
Regulatory Means for Interventionist Ends: GBER and the Transformation of the EU State Aid Regime
Despite its new‐found penchant for market interventionism, the European Union (EU) is often portrayed as lacking the fiscal and administrative capacity to conduct industrial policy. The EU can regulate markets, the conventional wisdom goes, but not steer them in specific directions. In this article, we challenge the notion that regulation and industrial policy are inherently antithetical, arguing instead that the Commission uses its regulatory au…
Is politics Bad for banking? how political ownership shaped the historical trajectory of Italian banks
Regulating via Conditionality: The Instruments of the New Industrial Policy
Conditionality was a central concern in the development literature of the 1990s. With the significant expansion of targeted public support to private firms since the Great Financial Crisis, the issue of conditionality has once again become a focal point in industrial policy debates. Despite the growing interest in the concept, the existing literature lacks a systematic conceptualization of conditionality within the context of industrial policy an…
Selling the jewels: Patient capital, state-business relations, and the privatization of strategic utilities in Italy and Spain
The privatization of public utilities marked a turning point in European capitalism, reshaping the relationship between the public and private spheres of the economy.However, the extent of state disinvestment varies greatly from country to country.While in some countries direct state ownership has disappeared, in others the state still acts as a reference shareholder in strategic companies.Despite their institutional similarities, Italy and Spain…
Industrial policy and comparative political economy: A literature review and research agenda
The Great Recession renewed calls for a return of state activism in support of the European economy. The widespread nationalizations of ailing companies and the growing activism of national development banks led many to celebrate the re-appearance of industrial policy. Despite this reappraisal, however, comparative political economy (CPE) contributions to the study of industrial policy are still scarce. This review article critically overviews th…
Under pressure. Economic constraints, electoral politics and labour market reforms in Southern Europe in the decade of the Great Recession
Even when subject to comparable exogenous constraints during the Eurozone crisis and in its immediate aftermath, governments in Southern Europe have pursued distinct labour market reform agendas. What room for manoeuvre did governments of crisis‐struck peripheral countries really have in shaping their labour market reform strategies, and how can we account for the observed variation? We address these questions by making a twofold contribution to …
Business Against Markets: Employer Resistance to Collective Bargaining Liberalization During the Eurozone Crisis
Employer organizations have been presented as strong promoters of the liberalization of industrial relations in Europe. This article, in contrast, argues that the preferences of employers vis-à-vis liberalization are heterogeneous and documents how employer organizations in Spain, Italy, and Portugal have resisted state-led reforms to liberalize collective bargaining during the Euro crisis. It shows that the dominance of small firms in the econom…
New forms of industrial policy in the age of regulation: A comparison of electricity and telecommunications in Italy and Spain
Relying on insights from the comparative capitalism debate, this article compares the industrial policy strategies implemented by the Italian and Spanish governments to favor the internationalization of domestic electricity and telecommunications incumbents. It is shown how the cross‐sectoral and cross‐country variation in the outcome of their industrial policy efforts—that is, successful or unsuccessful internationalization—is explained by the r…
Electoral Coalitions and Policy Reversals in Portugal and Italy in the Aftermath of the Eurozone Crisis
This paper links patterns of deregulatory reforms and post-crisis reversals in Italy and Portugal with the electoral constituencies of political parties. Combining insights from the social coalitions and electoral behaviour debates, we link reform outcomes to the class set-up of the electorate in the two countries by using the class schema developed by Daniel Oesch. We find that governments in both countries reversed austerity measures in order t…
The state strikes back: Industrial policy, regulatory power and the divergent performance of telefonica and telecom Italia
Published online: 11 Apr 2018
Insider job: Corporate reforms and power resources in France, Italy and Spain
Published: 04 October 2016
The Eurozone crisis and Italian corporate governance: The end of blockholding
This article explains the process of change in domestic corporate governance. An actor-centred coalitional approach is applied to the Italian case to show how the main features of domestic corporate governance are a product of behavioural patterns (i.e. informal institutions), rather than formal legislation. Leveraging their superior financial means, business elites act as institutional incumbents shaping these informal institutions according to …
Under pressure. Economic constraints, electoral politics and labour market reforms in Southern Europe in the decade of the Great Recession
Even when subject to comparable exogenous constraints during the Eurozone crisis and in its immediate aftermath, governments in Southern Europe have pursued distinct labour market reform agendas. What room for manoeuvre did governments of crisis‐struck peripheral countries really have in shaping their labour market reform strategies, and how can we account for the observed variation? We address these questions by making a twofold contribution to …
Electoral Coalitions and Policy Reversals in Portugal and Italy in the Aftermath of the Eurozone Crisis
This paper links patterns of deregulatory reforms and post-crisis reversals in Italy and Portugal with the electoral constituencies of political parties. Combining insights from the social coalitions and electoral behaviour debates, we link reform outcomes to the class set-up of the electorate in the two countries by using the class schema developed by Daniel Oesch. We find that governments in both countries reversed austerity measures in order t…
New forms of industrial policy in the age of regulation: A comparison of electricity and telecommunications in Italy and Spain
Relying on insights from the comparative capitalism debate, this article compares the industrial policy strategies implemented by the Italian and Spanish governments to favor the internationalization of domestic electricity and telecommunications incumbents. It is shown how the cross‐sectoral and cross‐country variation in the outcome of their industrial policy efforts—that is, successful or unsuccessful internationalization—is explained by the r…
Business Against Markets: Employer Resistance to Collective Bargaining Liberalization During the Eurozone Crisis
Employer organizations have been presented as strong promoters of the liberalization of industrial relations in Europe. This article, in contrast, argues that the preferences of employers vis-à-vis liberalization are heterogeneous and documents how employer organizations in Spain, Italy, and Portugal have resisted state-led reforms to liberalize collective bargaining during the Euro crisis. It shows that the dominance of small firms in the econom…
The state strikes back: Industrial policy, regulatory power and the divergent performance of telefonica and telecom Italia
Published online: 11 Apr 2018
Regulating via Conditionality: The Instruments of the New Industrial Policy
Conditionality was a central concern in the development literature of the 1990s. With the significant expansion of targeted public support to private firms since the Great Financial Crisis, the issue of conditionality has once again become a focal point in industrial policy debates. Despite the growing interest in the concept, the existing literature lacks a systematic conceptualization of conditionality within the context of industrial policy an…
The slumbering giant: Towards a Political Economy of Financialised Insurance
Published online: 05 August 2025
Selling the jewels: Patient capital, state-business relations, and the privatization of strategic utilities in Italy and Spain
The privatization of public utilities marked a turning point in European capitalism, reshaping the relationship between the public and private spheres of the economy.However, the extent of state disinvestment varies greatly from country to country.While in some countries direct state ownership has disappeared, in others the state still acts as a reference shareholder in strategic companies.Despite their institutional similarities, Italy and Spain…
Is politics Bad for banking? how political ownership shaped the historical trajectory of Italian banks
The Eurozone crisis and Italian corporate governance: The end of blockholding
This article explains the process of change in domestic corporate governance. An actor-centred coalitional approach is applied to the Italian case to show how the main features of domestic corporate governance are a product of behavioural patterns (i.e. informal institutions), rather than formal legislation. Leveraging their superior financial means, business elites act as institutional incumbents shaping these informal institutions according to …
Insider job: Corporate reforms and power resources in France, Italy and Spain
Published: 04 October 2016
Electoral Coalitions and Policy Reversals in Portugal and Italy in the Aftermath of the Eurozone Crisis
This paper links patterns of deregulatory reforms and post-crisis reversals in Italy and Portugal with the electoral constituencies of political parties. Combining insights from the social coalitions and electoral behaviour debates, we link reform outcomes to the class set-up of the electorate in the two countries by using the class schema developed by Daniel Oesch. We find that governments in both countries reversed austerity measures in order t…
The state strikes back: Industrial policy, regulatory power and the divergent performance of telefonica and telecom Italia
Published online: 11 Apr 2018
Business Against Markets: Employer Resistance to Collective Bargaining Liberalization During the Eurozone Crisis
Employer organizations have been presented as strong promoters of the liberalization of industrial relations in Europe. This article, in contrast, argues that the preferences of employers vis-à-vis liberalization are heterogeneous and documents how employer organizations in Spain, Italy, and Portugal have resisted state-led reforms to liberalize collective bargaining during the Euro crisis. It shows that the dominance of small firms in the econom…
New forms of industrial policy in the age of regulation: A comparison of electricity and telecommunications in Italy and Spain
Relying on insights from the comparative capitalism debate, this article compares the industrial policy strategies implemented by the Italian and Spanish governments to favor the internationalization of domestic electricity and telecommunications incumbents. It is shown how the cross‐sectoral and cross‐country variation in the outcome of their industrial policy efforts—that is, successful or unsuccessful internationalization—is explained by the r…
Under pressure. Economic constraints, electoral politics and labour market reforms in Southern Europe in the decade of the Great Recession
Even when subject to comparable exogenous constraints during the Eurozone crisis and in its immediate aftermath, governments in Southern Europe have pursued distinct labour market reform agendas. What room for manoeuvre did governments of crisis‐struck peripheral countries really have in shaping their labour market reform strategies, and how can we account for the observed variation? We address these questions by making a twofold contribution to …
Industrial policy and comparative political economy: A literature review and research agenda
The Great Recession renewed calls for a return of state activism in support of the European economy. The widespread nationalizations of ailing companies and the growing activism of national development banks led many to celebrate the re-appearance of industrial policy. Despite this reappraisal, however, comparative political economy (CPE) contributions to the study of industrial policy are still scarce. This review article critically overviews th…
Selling the jewels: Patient capital, state-business relations, and the privatization of strategic utilities in Italy and Spain
The privatization of public utilities marked a turning point in European capitalism, reshaping the relationship between the public and private spheres of the economy.However, the extent of state disinvestment varies greatly from country to country.While in some countries direct state ownership has disappeared, in others the state still acts as a reference shareholder in strategic companies.Despite their institutional similarities, Italy and Spain…
Regulatory Means for Interventionist Ends: GBER and the Transformation of the EU State Aid Regime
Despite its new‐found penchant for market interventionism, the European Union (EU) is often portrayed as lacking the fiscal and administrative capacity to conduct industrial policy. The EU can regulate markets, the conventional wisdom goes, but not steer them in specific directions. In this article, we challenge the notion that regulation and industrial policy are inherently antithetical, arguing instead that the Commission uses its regulatory au…
Is politics Bad for banking? how political ownership shaped the historical trajectory of Italian banks
Regulating via Conditionality: The Instruments of the New Industrial Policy
Conditionality was a central concern in the development literature of the 1990s. With the significant expansion of targeted public support to private firms since the Great Financial Crisis, the issue of conditionality has once again become a focal point in industrial policy debates. Despite the growing interest in the concept, the existing literature lacks a systematic conceptualization of conditionality within the context of industrial policy an…
Shifting paths? The evolution of Southern European growth trajectories in the post-Eurozone crisis decade (2010–9)
This article traces the growth trajectories of Southern European economies (Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) over the decade 2010–9. Drawing on Comparative Political Economy (CPE) literature, we derive three propositions regarding their growth profiles, performance in high value-added exports, and employment outcomes during this period. We then empirically assess these propositions using growth decompositions of adjusted aggregate demand as we…
Doing Industrial Policy in a Geo‐Tech World
In recent years, industrial policy has made a comeback across the globe, with governments increasingly willing to redirect economic activity towards strategically important technologies. While a growing literature has documented the drivers of this shift—ranging from geopolitical competition and climate imperatives to the resurgence of neo-mercantilist ideas—far greater strides have been made in understanding the why of industrial policy than the…
A Strong Regulator? The EU’s Uneven Regulatory Capacity in Green Industrial Policy
The European Union (EU) has recently re-embraced industrial policy as a central instrument of economic governance, driven in particular by the challenges of climate change and intensifying geopolitical competition. This article examines regulation as a key instrument through which the EU seeks to promote industrial transformation. We conceptualize regulatory industrial policy as operating through three channels—structuring markets, shaping produc…
The slumbering giant: Towards a Political Economy of Financialised Insurance
Published online: 05 August 2025
Politics (11 works) · Economics (10 works) · Political science (9 works) · Market economy (8 works) · Business (7 works) · Economic system (7 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (7 works) · Global Financial Regulation and Crises (5 works) · Industrial policy (5 works) · Political economy (5 works)