Abstract

In this essay, it is stressed that one of the factors that have a negative impact over the competitive capacity of the Italian economy is the scarce efficiency of public administration and the low productivity of the public employees. Collective bargaining has produced a levelling of the salaries, a substantial inefficacy of the assessment systems and a scarce selectivity of the systems of promotions based on professional skills. Public administration does not behave as a real employer because the political and ad ministrative management is prone to avoid trade unions disputes. Thus, it is necessary to simplify and reform the contractual system, and chose between the hypothesis - that some support - of abandoning collective bargaining in the public sector or of making it stronger.