Abstract

The article provides a high-resolution picture of the allocation model that funds Italian academic institutions. It describes its technical aspects and analyzes in detail the 'standard cost', on which the 'basic quota' - the larger share of the budget - of funding is determined (or better, will be determined). This article sheds lights on some critical aspects of the overall theoretical model. Particular attention is devoted to the analysis of the nature and the functioning of the so-called 'perequative model' (aimed to balance major funding fluctuations), on which we express doubts. Moreover, through a detailed analysis of the 2016 and 2017 funds allocation, we illustrate its substantial distributive political failure. Our opinion is that the failure of the model is due also to its original unsustainability: its introduction in 2014 took place in a context of high underfunding of the system, that has till now remained unchanged.