Preface - Luigi Paganetto Part I - Problems of the Welfare State 1 - What is the domain of the Welfare State? - Dennis J. Snower 2 - On the damaging side effects of the Welfare System: how, why and what to do - Edmund S. Phelps Part II - Active labour policies and the Welfare State 3 - Subsidising employment rather than unemployment - Richard Layard 4 - The labour market, the Welfare system and european convergence - Renato Brunetta, Leonello Tronti, Renzo Turatto 5 - Economic effects of work sharing in a dynamic labour turnover model - Hian Teck hoon Part III - Economic policies and Welfare State 6 - Unemployment, competitiveness and the Welfare State - Robert Mundell 7 - Labour market regulation in Italy, employment and welfare - Gianandrea Goisis and Donatella Porrini 8 - On a recent change in the notion of incomes policy - Giovanni Caravale 9 - Welfare spending and employment subsidies - Carlo Dell'Aringa Part IV - Equity and efficiency 10 - Is the european Welfare State unsustainable? - Edmond Malinvaud 11 - Distributive equity and economic efficiency: trade-off and synergy - Mario Baldassarri and Gustavo Piga 12 - Economic growth, poverty and government. Income support programmes with applications to Australia - Nanak Kakwani Part V - Competitiveness and the Welfare State 13 - Welfare State: leaner or starved? Competitiveness and social cohesion - Jean Paul Fitoussi 14 - Deregulation, Welfare State and competition in the goods and labor markets - Francesco Forte and Fabio Padovano 15 - The Welfare system and endogenous growth - Luigi Paganetto and Pasquale Lucio Scandizzo 16 - Conclusions - Edmund S. Phelps Part VI - Round table: economic policy recommentadions - Giuseppe de Rita, Mario Baldassarri, Fiorella Padoa Schioppa Kostoris, Francesco Forte and Michele Bagella