Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Amedeo Fossati
Author-Email:
Author-Workplace-Name: Università di Genova - Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Finanziarie
Title: Public Goods in the Italian Tradition
Abstract: The paper highlights the relationship between the main ideas on public goods put forth by the
Italian tradition and the core of modern fiscal theory, i.e., the Samuelson-Musgrave model. Although
Pantaleoni applied marginal utility analysis to the public sector in 1883, his scheme is
very far from Samuelson’s theory of public expenditure, because he considered the allocation
of budgetary funds by Parliament. It was De Viti de Marco who in 1888 was able to state
Samuelson condition for efficient public goods provision. However, he and a number of Italian
authors did not attach much importance to this result, because they were trying to build positive
theories of State activity in general. Then, Italian tradition experienced a drift towards politics
and sociology in so far as more and more relevance was given to political aspects of the
problem. At the same time, still in the positive approach, new authors raised sharp criticisms to
the marginal analysis as a viable tool in order to explain public economic activity. Then, public
goods were no longer considered for their intrinsic nature. In particular Fasiani (the most
prominent author in the twenty final years considered) not only defines public goods as anything
that is produced by the government, but for him public goods’ indivisibility is due either
to the consolidation of wants, or to the impossibility to evaluate the utility that each consumer
gets from public goods.
Classification-JEL: H410
Keywords: Public goods, Italian tradition of public finance
Journal: Il Pensiero Economico Italiano
Pages: 99-122
Volume: 11
Issue: 1
Year: 2003
File-URL: http://www.libraweb.net/articoli.php?chiave=200306301&rivista=63
Handle: RePEc:pei:journl:v:11:y:2003:1:5:p:99-122