title: Austerity Resistant Social Policies to Protect Employment.
abstract: During the worse phase of the economic downturn, few social policies resisted to the austerity measures imposed to Italy by the European Union. Among them, the most important is the Wage Supplementation Fund, to protect workers and entrepreneurs from bankruptcy and unemployment. Adopting a realist methodology we studied the social mechanisms which are the roots of some political and administrative choices in that period; the public policy decision making approach gave us a theoretical base. Some main mechanisms have been discovered: technical and economic mechanisms overcame politics, social attitudes pushed political choices, the fear of political and social instability drove all parties.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Public Health, Local Health Authority TO5, Chieri, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gelormino
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Local Health Authority TO3, Grugliasco (Turin), Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marino
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Economics and Statistics "Cognetti de Martiis", University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leombruni
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Clinical and Biological Science, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Costa
mesh_terms: D057172:Economic Recession; D005062:European Union; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D011640:Public Policy; D012456:Salaries and Fringe Benefits; D014478:Unemployment
keywords: Italy; austerity; mechanisms; realist methodology; social policy; unemployment