Coordinator: Salvatore Capasso

Abstract

The Mediterranean is an area of relations between countries with strong differences in growth, economic development and democracy. Thus, as in a microcosm, the Mediterranean region reflects the great challenges of the new millennium: population growth, unemployment, migration, reform of welfare policies, combating poverty, the effects of climate change, and the management of conflicts over the control of natural resources in the southern and eastern sides of the basin. Institutions and the quality of governance play a central role in tackling these challenges because corruption, rent-seeking positions, the presence of a public administration incapable of guaranteeing transparency, equity and equal social and gender opportunities, hinder growth and socio-economic development in all Mediterranean countries. Similarly, the functioning of real and financial markets in the area differs from country to country and from region to region, resulting in great disparities in the efficiency with which businesses operate and markets allocate resources, and conversely, strong sector and product specialisations. However, these disparities also represent great opportunities for trade and growth for all countries in the region. The line’s research activity analyses, on a broad scale, the governance and institutional processes in the Mediterranean countries and their intersections with the mechanisms that regulate the functioning of markets and individual enterprises. With the ultimate aim of highlighting the limits to the development of the countries on the southern and eastern shores and suggesting recipes for revitalising the anaemic growth of the countries on the northern shore, the line’s activities are part of the ongoing debate on the need to rethink governance in the Mediterranean, with particular reference to Community policies, the reduction of territorial gaps and security.

Objectives

The line aims, at a macroeconomic level, to study the processes of institution building and the functioning of markets in the countries of the area, and at a microeconomic level, to verify how the optimal choices of market operators, firms and individuals, are influenced by specific institutional and governance factors. Therefore, while on the one hand the line’s activities are aimed at studying, among other things, the political and institutional reforms taking place within the Mediterranean countries, the impact of these on the economic-social systems, social and territorial cohesion policies, and the functioning of national and local institutions, on the other hand, the activities aim to analyse how these factors influence the functioning of the markets, and consequently the strategic choices of businesses and consumers. In particular, research activities focus on the study of problems related to logistics and the implementation of new technologies in key sectors such as health. The ultimate aim is to contribute to the design of effective and socially balanced intervention policies. In fact, through an interdisciplinary and holistic approach, research also focuses on issues of welfare and social utility. In order to identify the factors behind migratory movements in the region, the line studies demographic transition, the labour market, welfare reform policies and poverty alleviation. The problem of poverty in the Mediterranean is analysed not in a strictly economic sense, but as exclusion from opportunities (education, work, health protection) that affects transversally territorial areas, social groups and less protected categories, such as young people and women. A central aspect of the research is the analysis of the role of the environment in development processes. Climate change, soil degradation and water shortages are factors that are bound to affect the growth prospects of countries in the area, affect the living conditions of the poorest and most vulnerable populations and fuel migration flows. A geopolitical focus is devoted to natural resource management policies and the conflict between North African and Middle Eastern countries in relation to the strategic objective of water and food security.

Activities

The research activities are developed through the construction of theoretical models and empirical investigations based on aggregated data, surveys and on-the-field analyses. Specifically, the activities of the line are the following collection and processing of socio-economic data on the countries of the Mediterranean basin; studies on the transformations of the Mediterranean economies in historical and contemporary perspective; analysis of the framework of European cohesion policies; analysis of the evolution of the European Union’s Euro-Mediterranean policy; research on the demographic, political and economic transition in the countries of North Africa and the Middle East; study of the socio-economic and cultural impact of migrations in the Mediterranean area; studies on environmental governance with particular reference to climate change and strategies for preventing and combating environmental risks; geopolitical focus on conflicts for the control of natural resources in relation to the strategic objective of water and food security. The activities are also of a dissemination nature: the research line is active in the organisation of conferences and themed workshops and collaborates with schools and institutional bodies for policy development.

Themes

The themes addressed are many and interconnected. The main research themes are listed below:

• analysis of the role that institutions and governance processes have on market balances and resource allocation in the economic system;
• political arrangements and market equilibria;
• internationalisation, innovation and entrepreneurship;
• determinants of economic growth and development;
• human capital and migration;
• social cohesion and welfare policies;
• logistics and transport;
• health economics;
• new technologies and digitisation processes;
• Euro-Mediterranean partnership and strengthening territorial governance;
• geopolitics of resources.

Contacts and collaborations

There are many contacts with universities, institutions and research centres: Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), Istituto di Studi sulla Politica Internazionale (ISPI), Centro Studi Politica Internazionale (CeSPI), University of Salerno, University of Bari, University of Catanzaro, University of Tor Vergata, University of Federico II, University of Bologna, University of Naples Parthenope, Sudi e Ricerche per il Mezzogiorno (SRM), École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Institut de Prospective Economique du Monde Méditerranéen (IPEMED), Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI), Institut de la Mediterranée (IeMed), Economic Research Forum (ERF). Participation in Mediterranean research networks: Forum Euroméditerranéen des instituts de Sciences Economiques (FEMISE), EuroMeSCo (the Euro-Mediterranean Study Commission), Sustainable Development Solution Network (SDSN), Euro-Mediterranean University (EMUNI), Union of Mediterranean Universities (UNIMED), International Federation for Sustainable Development and Poverty Alleviation in the Mediterranean-Black Sea (FISPMED).

Main collective research products

In addition to numerous individual and group works in journals and books, the line produces several periodical products including the Mediterranean Economies Report and a database on Mediterranean countries in collaboration with the UfM and the Forum Euromediterranéen des Instituts des Sciences Economiques (FEMISE).