Stefano Sacchi
Biographic Data
| ID | 4252499 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Stefano Sacchi |
| GIVEN NAMES | Stefano |
| FAMILY NAME | Sacchi |
| SIGNATURE | SACCHI S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Politecnico di Torino |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1318-0253 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 201 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Governing without choosing: The limits of performative politics
In this introduction to the Contemporary Italian Politics special issue on Politics in Italy in 2025 we examine political developments by drawing on the distinction between performative and transformative politics. The individual contributions to this special issue reveal a common pattern: the growing predominance of political signalling over structural policy change across a broad variety of policy domains including foreign affairs, defence, lab…
The party politics of the digital transformation: Insights from the Italian case
Digital transformation has become an increasingly important policy concern for European decision-makers, though its prominence in political debate remains uncertain. Existing literature on the salience of this issue presents conflicting findings, attributing variation either to the peripheral role of political actors or to their ideological orientations. This article contributes to this body of research by offering new insights into the dynamics …
Guns versus butter’ in public opinion: The politicization of the warfare-welfare trade-off
From efficiency to ambivalence: How digitalisation reshapes labour market activation and the moral economy of welfare state
The growing entanglement of digitalisation with the design and delivery of social and labour market policies has become an undisputed feature of contemporary welfare governance. A key area where the “digital welfare states” are emerging is the governance of labour market integration and the activation of individuals outside of the labour market. In this context, active social policy has been embodied and enacted through digital technologies that …
Automation and Political Realignment: The Impact of ‘Losers’ Occupational Trajectories on Core Political Values
The exposure to the automation risk on the labour market is strongly correlated with support for the radical right. In this article, we investigate whether this political realignment is mirrored by a change in individuals’ core political values. We test the impact of different occupational trajectories of the automation ‘losers’ on their socialist-laissez faire and libertarian-authoritarian values using long-run panel data (BHPS 1991–2008). Furth…
Labour market risks and preferences for EU unemployment insurance: The Effect of Automation, Globalization and Migration Concerns
Societies are experiencing deep and intertwined structural changes that may unsettle perceptions European citizens have of their economic and employment security. In turn, such perceptions likely alter people’s political positions. For instance, those worried by labour market competition may prefer greater social protection to compensate for the accrued risk, or prefer more closed economies where external borders provide protection (or perceived …
Digital transformation of public employment services in the post‐pandemic era. Evidence from Italy as a latecomer country
The Next Generation EU (NGEU) economic recovery package has set the conditions for unprecedented investment in policy areas considered of strategic importance by each Member State. This article focusses on the Italian case, characterised by long‐lasting weaknesses in active labour market policies and public employment services (PES) to analyse whether, and under what conditions, resources and programming of the magnitude of NGEU may be able to le…
Voices from the past: Economic and political vulnerabilities in the making of next generation EU
In this article, we show that Next Generation EU (NGEU) is mainly a response to the economic and political imbalances left over from the Eurozone crisis. It is a pre-emptive intervention, especially targeted at structurally weak economies with rising Euroscepticism, to avoid costly ex-post bailouts as in the Great Recession. We demonstrate, using quantitative analysis, that pre-existing vulnerabilities, rather than the impact of the pandemic, dro…
Progress and Challenges of Nonfinancial Defined Contribution Pension Schemes: Volume 2. Addressing Gender, Administration, and Communication
This is the third publication to analyze progress, challenges, and adjustment options of this \n. reform revolution for mandated public pension schemes. The individual account-based but \nunfunded approach that promises fair and financially sustainable benefits is a reform \nbenchmark for all pension schemes. Nonfinancial defined contribution (NDC) schemes \noriginated in the 1990s independently in Italy and Sweden, were then adopted by Latvia, \…
The trajectory of the Jobs Act and the politics of structural reforms between counter-reforms and ambiguity
When the new yellow-green government took office in 2018, a radical overhaul of the main labour-market reform (the so-called Jobs Act) introduced by the Renzi government was expected. Despite a number of opportunities to scupper the reform, this never happened. While the Jobs Act is still contentious to this day, and notwithstanding the manifesto commitments made by the League and the Five-star Movement forming the government, only three changes …
When words matter: Narratives and strategies in the Italian Jobs Act (2014–2016)
With the reforms of the so-called ‘Jobs Act’ (JA), Italy aimed to structurally reform its labour market and income-support system, through recalibration (i.e. a mix of both expansionary and retrenching measures) for old social policy risks, and some expansionary measures to face new social risks. The JA also became the symbol of opposite views about the Italian welfare state, being itself a reason for ideological conflict and coalition reshufflin…
Here to Stay? Reversals of Structural Reforms in Southern Europe as the Crisis Wanes
This article answers the fundamental question of whether structural reforms on labour market regulation and social protection in Italy, Portugal and Spain passed during the sovereign debt crisis endured or were reversed once external conditionality waned. The study defines categorises and illustrates structural policy reversals. It finds there have been significant structural policy reversals across the three cases, but the bulk of these reforms …
The Italian Welfare State in the Crisis: Learning to Adjust
After a decade of inertia, that left it unprepared to withstand the blow of the great recession, the Italian welfare state has witnessed significant changes since 2012. Externally driven consolidation in the wake of the sovereign debt crisis spurred yet another wave of social policy reforms after that of the 1990s. These reforms did not however invariably entail retrenchment. Both the Monti and the Renzi governments combined liberalisation with e…
Employment policy: Segmentation, deregulation and reforms in the Italian labour market
Conditionality, austerity and welfare: Financial crisis and its impact on welfare in Italy and Korea
What happens to welfare states when conditional financial aid is provided by an external financial actor? The conventional wisdom is that conditionality brings about welfare state retrenchment. The two cases analysed in this article – Korea during the financial crisis of 1997–1998 and Italy during the Eurozone crisis since 2011 – do not seem to confirm this received wisdom. This article tackles the puzzle of expansionary welfare reforms in the pr…
Conditionality by other means: EU involvement in Italy’s structural reforms in the sovereign debt crisis
The Politics of Structural Reforms: Social and Industrial Policy Change in Italy and Japan
For countries undertaking economic or political reform the case of Italy and Japan is both highly instructive and sobering. The Politics of Structural Reforms reveals what Italy and Japan gained and lost through a series of social and industrial reforms in the 1990s and 2000s, and why the changes they made in their policies have had little impact in softening the recent economic crisis.
Italy’s labour policy and policy making in the crisis: From distributive coalitions to the shadow of hierarchy
This paper will be published in M. Magara and S. Sacchi (eds.), The Politics of Social and Industrial Reform, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, forthcoming in 2013.
Politics of Structural Reforms: Social and Industrial Policy Change in Italy and Japan
The Economic Crisis as a Trigger of Convergence? Short‐time Work in Italy, Germany and Austria
In all European countries, emergency policy measures have been introduced in order to counteract the employment consequences of the economic crisis. In the context of variously composed anti‐crisis packages, many European countries have used Short‐Time Work (STW) schemes, that is measures to subsidize a temporary reduction in working time intended to maintain an employment relationship. This article focuses on the issue of whether the economic cr…
Model otvorene koordinacije protiv siromaštva: Novi “proces socijalnog uključivanja” Europske unije
Open coordination against poverty: The new EU `social inclusion process
Until the mid 1990s, the notion of Social Europe was primarily associated with the introduction of binding supranational rules aimed at safeguarding and possibly upgrading the social protection systems of the Member States. The political and institutional obstacles to such kind of rules were well known in practice and well understood in theory - especially in the wake of the negative vs. positive integration debate. But 'hard law' seemed to be th…
Conditionality by other means: EU involvement in Italy’s structural reforms in the sovereign debt crisis
Voices from the past: Economic and political vulnerabilities in the making of next generation EU
In this article, we show that Next Generation EU (NGEU) is mainly a response to the economic and political imbalances left over from the Eurozone crisis. It is a pre-emptive intervention, especially targeted at structurally weak economies with rising Euroscepticism, to avoid costly ex-post bailouts as in the Great Recession. We demonstrate, using quantitative analysis, that pre-existing vulnerabilities, rather than the impact of the pandemic, dro…
The Italian Welfare State in the Crisis: Learning to Adjust
After a decade of inertia, that left it unprepared to withstand the blow of the great recession, the Italian welfare state has witnessed significant changes since 2012. Externally driven consolidation in the wake of the sovereign debt crisis spurred yet another wave of social policy reforms after that of the 1990s. These reforms did not however invariably entail retrenchment. Both the Monti and the Renzi governments combined liberalisation with e…
Open coordination against poverty: The new EU `social inclusion process
Until the mid 1990s, the notion of Social Europe was primarily associated with the introduction of binding supranational rules aimed at safeguarding and possibly upgrading the social protection systems of the Member States. The political and institutional obstacles to such kind of rules were well known in practice and well understood in theory - especially in the wake of the negative vs. positive integration debate. But 'hard law' seemed to be th…
Here to Stay? Reversals of Structural Reforms in Southern Europe as the Crisis Wanes
This article answers the fundamental question of whether structural reforms on labour market regulation and social protection in Italy, Portugal and Spain passed during the sovereign debt crisis endured or were reversed once external conditionality waned. The study defines categorises and illustrates structural policy reversals. It finds there have been significant structural policy reversals across the three cases, but the bulk of these reforms …
The Economic Crisis as a Trigger of Convergence? Short‐time Work in Italy, Germany and Austria
In all European countries, emergency policy measures have been introduced in order to counteract the employment consequences of the economic crisis. In the context of variously composed anti‐crisis packages, many European countries have used Short‐Time Work (STW) schemes, that is measures to subsidize a temporary reduction in working time intended to maintain an employment relationship. This article focuses on the issue of whether the economic cr…
Conditionality, austerity and welfare: Financial crisis and its impact on welfare in Italy and Korea
What happens to welfare states when conditional financial aid is provided by an external financial actor? The conventional wisdom is that conditionality brings about welfare state retrenchment. The two cases analysed in this article – Korea during the financial crisis of 1997–1998 and Italy during the Eurozone crisis since 2011 – do not seem to confirm this received wisdom. This article tackles the puzzle of expansionary welfare reforms in the pr…
When words matter: Narratives and strategies in the Italian Jobs Act (2014–2016)
With the reforms of the so-called ‘Jobs Act’ (JA), Italy aimed to structurally reform its labour market and income-support system, through recalibration (i.e. a mix of both expansionary and retrenching measures) for old social policy risks, and some expansionary measures to face new social risks. The JA also became the symbol of opposite views about the Italian welfare state, being itself a reason for ideological conflict and coalition reshufflin…
The trajectory of the Jobs Act and the politics of structural reforms between counter-reforms and ambiguity
When the new yellow-green government took office in 2018, a radical overhaul of the main labour-market reform (the so-called Jobs Act) introduced by the Renzi government was expected. Despite a number of opportunities to scupper the reform, this never happened. While the Jobs Act is still contentious to this day, and notwithstanding the manifesto commitments made by the League and the Five-star Movement forming the government, only three changes …
Digital transformation of public employment services in the post‐pandemic era. Evidence from Italy as a latecomer country
The Next Generation EU (NGEU) economic recovery package has set the conditions for unprecedented investment in policy areas considered of strategic importance by each Member State. This article focusses on the Italian case, characterised by long‐lasting weaknesses in active labour market policies and public employment services (PES) to analyse whether, and under what conditions, resources and programming of the magnitude of NGEU may be able to le…
Labour market risks and preferences for EU unemployment insurance: The Effect of Automation, Globalization and Migration Concerns
Societies are experiencing deep and intertwined structural changes that may unsettle perceptions European citizens have of their economic and employment security. In turn, such perceptions likely alter people’s political positions. For instance, those worried by labour market competition may prefer greater social protection to compensate for the accrued risk, or prefer more closed economies where external borders provide protection (or perceived …
Open coordination against poverty: The new EU `social inclusion process
Until the mid 1990s, the notion of Social Europe was primarily associated with the introduction of binding supranational rules aimed at safeguarding and possibly upgrading the social protection systems of the Member States. The political and institutional obstacles to such kind of rules were well known in practice and well understood in theory - especially in the wake of the negative vs. positive integration debate. But 'hard law' seemed to be th…
Model otvorene koordinacije protiv siromaštva: Novi “proces socijalnog uključivanja” Europske unije
The Economic Crisis as a Trigger of Convergence? Short‐time Work in Italy, Germany and Austria
In all European countries, emergency policy measures have been introduced in order to counteract the employment consequences of the economic crisis. In the context of variously composed anti‐crisis packages, many European countries have used Short‐Time Work (STW) schemes, that is measures to subsidize a temporary reduction in working time intended to maintain an employment relationship. This article focuses on the issue of whether the economic cr…
The Politics of Structural Reforms: Social and Industrial Policy Change in Italy and Japan
For countries undertaking economic or political reform the case of Italy and Japan is both highly instructive and sobering. The Politics of Structural Reforms reveals what Italy and Japan gained and lost through a series of social and industrial reforms in the 1990s and 2000s, and why the changes they made in their policies have had little impact in softening the recent economic crisis.
Italy’s labour policy and policy making in the crisis: From distributive coalitions to the shadow of hierarchy
This paper will be published in M. Magara and S. Sacchi (eds.), The Politics of Social and Industrial Reform, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, forthcoming in 2013.
Politics of Structural Reforms: Social and Industrial Policy Change in Italy and Japan
Conditionality by other means: EU involvement in Italy’s structural reforms in the sovereign debt crisis
Conditionality, austerity and welfare: Financial crisis and its impact on welfare in Italy and Korea
What happens to welfare states when conditional financial aid is provided by an external financial actor? The conventional wisdom is that conditionality brings about welfare state retrenchment. The two cases analysed in this article – Korea during the financial crisis of 1997–1998 and Italy during the Eurozone crisis since 2011 – do not seem to confirm this received wisdom. This article tackles the puzzle of expansionary welfare reforms in the pr…
Employment policy: Segmentation, deregulation and reforms in the Italian labour market
The Italian Welfare State in the Crisis: Learning to Adjust
After a decade of inertia, that left it unprepared to withstand the blow of the great recession, the Italian welfare state has witnessed significant changes since 2012. Externally driven consolidation in the wake of the sovereign debt crisis spurred yet another wave of social policy reforms after that of the 1990s. These reforms did not however invariably entail retrenchment. Both the Monti and the Renzi governments combined liberalisation with e…
The trajectory of the Jobs Act and the politics of structural reforms between counter-reforms and ambiguity
When the new yellow-green government took office in 2018, a radical overhaul of the main labour-market reform (the so-called Jobs Act) introduced by the Renzi government was expected. Despite a number of opportunities to scupper the reform, this never happened. While the Jobs Act is still contentious to this day, and notwithstanding the manifesto commitments made by the League and the Five-star Movement forming the government, only three changes …
When words matter: Narratives and strategies in the Italian Jobs Act (2014–2016)
With the reforms of the so-called ‘Jobs Act’ (JA), Italy aimed to structurally reform its labour market and income-support system, through recalibration (i.e. a mix of both expansionary and retrenching measures) for old social policy risks, and some expansionary measures to face new social risks. The JA also became the symbol of opposite views about the Italian welfare state, being itself a reason for ideological conflict and coalition reshufflin…
Here to Stay? Reversals of Structural Reforms in Southern Europe as the Crisis Wanes
This article answers the fundamental question of whether structural reforms on labour market regulation and social protection in Italy, Portugal and Spain passed during the sovereign debt crisis endured or were reversed once external conditionality waned. The study defines categorises and illustrates structural policy reversals. It finds there have been significant structural policy reversals across the three cases, but the bulk of these reforms …
Progress and Challenges of Nonfinancial Defined Contribution Pension Schemes: Volume 2. Addressing Gender, Administration, and Communication
This is the third publication to analyze progress, challenges, and adjustment options of this \n. reform revolution for mandated public pension schemes. The individual account-based but \nunfunded approach that promises fair and financially sustainable benefits is a reform \nbenchmark for all pension schemes. Nonfinancial defined contribution (NDC) schemes \noriginated in the 1990s independently in Italy and Sweden, were then adopted by Latvia, \…
Voices from the past: Economic and political vulnerabilities in the making of next generation EU
In this article, we show that Next Generation EU (NGEU) is mainly a response to the economic and political imbalances left over from the Eurozone crisis. It is a pre-emptive intervention, especially targeted at structurally weak economies with rising Euroscepticism, to avoid costly ex-post bailouts as in the Great Recession. We demonstrate, using quantitative analysis, that pre-existing vulnerabilities, rather than the impact of the pandemic, dro…
Digital transformation of public employment services in the post‐pandemic era. Evidence from Italy as a latecomer country
The Next Generation EU (NGEU) economic recovery package has set the conditions for unprecedented investment in policy areas considered of strategic importance by each Member State. This article focusses on the Italian case, characterised by long‐lasting weaknesses in active labour market policies and public employment services (PES) to analyse whether, and under what conditions, resources and programming of the magnitude of NGEU may be able to le…
The party politics of the digital transformation: Insights from the Italian case
Digital transformation has become an increasingly important policy concern for European decision-makers, though its prominence in political debate remains uncertain. Existing literature on the salience of this issue presents conflicting findings, attributing variation either to the peripheral role of political actors or to their ideological orientations. This article contributes to this body of research by offering new insights into the dynamics …
Guns versus butter’ in public opinion: The politicization of the warfare-welfare trade-off
From efficiency to ambivalence: How digitalisation reshapes labour market activation and the moral economy of welfare state
The growing entanglement of digitalisation with the design and delivery of social and labour market policies has become an undisputed feature of contemporary welfare governance. A key area where the “digital welfare states” are emerging is the governance of labour market integration and the activation of individuals outside of the labour market. In this context, active social policy has been embodied and enacted through digital technologies that …
Automation and Political Realignment: The Impact of ‘Losers’ Occupational Trajectories on Core Political Values
The exposure to the automation risk on the labour market is strongly correlated with support for the radical right. In this article, we investigate whether this political realignment is mirrored by a change in individuals’ core political values. We test the impact of different occupational trajectories of the automation ‘losers’ on their socialist-laissez faire and libertarian-authoritarian values using long-run panel data (BHPS 1991–2008). Furth…
Labour market risks and preferences for EU unemployment insurance: The Effect of Automation, Globalization and Migration Concerns
Societies are experiencing deep and intertwined structural changes that may unsettle perceptions European citizens have of their economic and employment security. In turn, such perceptions likely alter people’s political positions. For instance, those worried by labour market competition may prefer greater social protection to compensate for the accrued risk, or prefer more closed economies where external borders provide protection (or perceived …
Governing without choosing: The limits of performative politics
In this introduction to the Contemporary Italian Politics special issue on Politics in Italy in 2025 we examine political developments by drawing on the distinction between performative and transformative politics. The individual contributions to this special issue reveal a common pattern: the growing predominance of political signalling over structural policy change across a broad variety of policy domains including foreign affairs, defence, lab…
Political science (16 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (16 works) · Economics (14 works) · Politics (11 works) · Law (9 works) · Political economy (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Employment and Welfare Studies (6 works) · Macroeconomics (6 works) · Market economy (6 works)