Pressure on Bank of Italy: Evidence Using a Taylor Rule -- A Simulative Assessment of the Italian Electoral System -- Did the Italian Public Finances Converge to European Standards after the EMU? -- Are The Income Policy Agreements Of 1992-93 In Italy Still Valid?Towards A Theory For The Optimal Design Of The "Social Pact"In The European Monetary Union -- Laws and Legislature Size in Italian Regions: Which Will Be the Effect of an Increase in the Number of Legislators? -- Setting House Taxes by Italian Municipalities: What the Data Say -- How Do Institutions Shape Policy Making? The Transition from Parliamentarism to Presidentialism in Iitalian Local Governments -- Thirty Years of Reforms to Budget Rules in Italy: An Econometric Evaluation -- The "Demand for Justice" in Italy: Civil Litigation and the Judicial System -- The creation of Independent Authorities in Italy -- The Regional Organization of Hospital Care in Italy: The Effects of Asymmetry of Information and Soft Budget Constraint Rules -- The Channeled Italian Voters.

Using a public choice perspective, this book explains the evolution and political and economic impact of recent changes to the Italian institutional framework. Because these changes are so numerous and broad, their implementation serves as a case study for other Western governments. Particular attention is paid to the introduction of the EURO, the reform of voting from proportional to majoritarian rule, the impact of corporatism, constraints imposed by the Maastricht Treaty, and the switch from a highly centralized government to a federal organization.