Abstract

In the second half of the 20th century, economies of industrialised countries have witnessed a continuous process of innovation, that has deeply transformed our society. This scientific progress has brought technological innovation and organisational innovation as well. Productivity has continuously grown, often without a uniform trend, due to the variability of the demand and the different factors that help shaping market behaviour. While on the one hand the production growth has been followed by the reduction of labour demand and by the large increase of structural unemployment, on the other hand the possible saturation of "physical" consumption (material goods) is increasing market opportunities for immaterial goods dealing with education and culture, health and other individual services of the body and the spirit.