DA EMPOLI, Domenico (Biography)

Born

September 24, 1941, Reggio Calabria, Italy Current Positions

Chairman of the Scientific Committee of "Fondazione Luigi Einaudi per Studi di Politica ed Economia", 1985-; Professor of Public Finance, Universita di Roma "La Sapienza", 1984-; Professor of Public Economics at Luiss Libera Universita degli Studi Sociali — Roma, 1968-.

Past Positions

Assistant of Public Finance, Universita di Roma "La Sapienza", 1967-1974; Professor of Public Finance, Univerita di Messina, 1975-1978; Professor of Public Finance, Universita di Napoli, 1979-1983.

Degree

D.J., Universita di Roma "La Sapienza", 1963. Offices and Honors

Member, The Mont Pelerin Society, 1976.

Member, Board of SIEP (Public Economics Society),1994-1999.

Vice-President SIEP (Public Economics Society), 1994-1999.

Vice-President (and then President) of the Economic Committee of CNR (National Research Council), 1994-1999.

Member, Finance Committee, International Seabed Authority (Kingston, Jamaica), 1995-. Chairman, Finance Committee, International Seabed Authority (Kingston, Jamaica), 1998-.

Editorial Duties

Founding Editor, Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice, 1983-.

Principal Fields of Interest

Public Finance and Public Choice; History of Economic Thought.

Selected Publications

Books and Essays


1. Analisi critica di alcuni effetti dell’ imposta generale sulle vendite, (Giuffre, 1966.)

2. Debito pubblico, imposte e tasso d’interesse, (Giuffre, 1974).

3. Finanza pubblica e Contabilita nazionale su base trimestrale [1954-1975] (ed.) (Cedam, 1979).

4. Scelte Pubbliche (Le Monnier, 1984). (edited with S. Carrubba).

5. Il Bilancio dello Stato-La finanza pubblica tra Governo e Parlamento (Sole-24 Ore, 1988, 3rd ed. 2000) (with P. De Ioanna and G. Vegas).

6. Le Vie della Liberta-Il Liberalismo come teoria e come politica negli anni novanta (ed.) (Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, 1993).

7. Verso un nuovo Stato sociale-Tendenze e criteri, (Angeli, 1997) (edited with G. Muraro).

8. Concorrenza fiscale in un’economia internazionale integrata, Angeli, 1999 (edited, with M. Bordignon).

9. Politica fiscale, flessibilita dei mercati e crescita, Angeli, 2001 (edited, with M. Bordignon).

Articles

1. "Note critiche sull’imposizione degli incrementi di valore patrimoniali." Rivista di diritto finanziario e Scienza delle finanze, 1964.

2. "Riforma tributaria e finanza locale." Tributi, 1971.

3. "Stato sociale e democrazia." Rassegna economica del Banco di Napoli, 1983.

4. "A science for liberty: public finance according to Luigi Einaudi’s Thought." Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice, 1986.

5. "Beni pubblici e democrazia." Teoria dei sistemi economici (ed. B. Jossa), Utet, 1989.

6. "The Italian Law for the protection of competition and the market." Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice, 1990.

7. "Do ideas have consequences?." Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice, 2-3: 1992.

8. "Public choice in Italy." Public Choice, 77:1994.

9. "Federalismo fiscale e scelte pubbliche." Attualita del federalismo fiscale, Univ. of Cassino, 1996.

10. "Harmful tax competition." International Tax Law Review, 1999.

11. "Welfare state and income redistribution in democracy." Review of Economic Conditions of Italy, 2000.

12. "A public choice analysis of the international sea-bed authority." Constitutional Economics, 11:2000.

13. "The reduction of the Italian public debt: problems and opportunities." Politica fiscale, flessibilita dei mercati e crescita cit., 2001 (with C. De Nicola).

Principal Contributions

Domenico da Empoli’s early work focused on traditional Public Finance subjects, such as sales taxation and public debt. Progressively, his interests in the economic study of institutions grew, under the influence of James M. Buchanan’s and Gordon Tullock’s teachings. Though he became acquainted with Public Choice in 1966 (his first year of study in American universities, mainly the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago, where he spent a second year), da Empoli waited some time before entering into this field of research, essentially because he thought that this approach might lower government’s reputation and in this way it might weaken the foundations of the polity. He now thinks the opposite: Public choice helps in discovering the existing imperfections of the public system that can harm the use of national resources and sometimes also restrain individual liberties. Public choice provides the instruments to recognize the dangers of public policies and to prevent these dangers through appropriate constitutional reforms. His personal interests in this sector deal with the policy implications of public choice (in particular in the area of welfare), not only at national level, but also in international organizations. These views inspire his activity as editor of the Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice.

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