Category: policy

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Unpacking the globalization-welfare nexus. 

The article engages with the comparative literature on the highly debated globalization-welfare nexus by conducting an extended meta-analysis on the relationship between openness and social spending. By means of a series of meta-regressions, we investigate methodological and substantive elements responsible for the heterogeneity of the empirical findings, and the support for the opposite compensation and efficiency hypotheses. Amongst others, our findings suggest that the conceptualization and measurement of the independent and dependent variable systematically affect the results obtained by researchers, whereas the period and the geographical scope do not have the leverage that is sometimes claimed in the literature.

Marco Giuliani & Ilaria Madama (2025). Unpacking the globalization-welfare nexus. A meta-analysis of comparative evidence, mechanisms and effects of openness on social spending, Journal of European Social Policy

 

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Did the citizenship income scheme do it? The supposed electoral consequence of a flagship policy

Citizenship income credit card

In the aftermath of the 2022 Italian legislative elections, but also during the entire electoral campaign, several claims were made that much of the electoral support for the Five Star Movement had been triggered by the ‘Reddito di cittadinanza’ – the welfare policy introduced in 2019 by the yellow–green government. This research note first distinguishes between distributive politics and policy voting, and then explores the empirical relationship between the geographical provision at the municipal level of the citizenship income and the vote for the party led by Giuseppe Conte. While traditional multivariate analyses fail to reveal any spurious relationship, matching techniques help highlight the absence of any causal relationship between the two variables.

 Marco Giuliani (2024).  Did the citizenship income scheme do it? The supposed electoral consequence of a flagship policy. Italian Political Science Review 54(1): 101-109

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Policy-taking styles: a typology and an empirical application to anti-Covid policies

Several studies have investigated the variety of governance strategies adopted by European countries to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic. Some nations relied on a more liberal approach, based on recommendations and a lack of mandatory constraints; others trusted more top-down regulations and longlasting restrictions. The feasibility and success of the different strategies also depend on the way in which policy-takers react. 

The article uses this exemplary policy case to propose a novel theoretical framework which maps the variety of policy-taking styles applying March and Olsen’s (2006) logics of conditionality and appropriateness. Using mobility data, it then employs the new typology to explore the diverse styles adopted by policy-takers reacting to anti-Covid workplace regulations in 29 European countries. The categories proposed can be applied also in different contexts, especially where policy success crucially depends on countless individual behaviours, and policymakers need to choose the most effective mix of enforcement tools.

Marco Giuliani (2024): Policy-taking styles: a typology and an empirical application to anti-Covid policies, Journal of European Public Policy 31(7): 1831-1855.