Preface - Notes on the Contributors - PART 1: PROBLEMS OF THE WELFARE STATE - What is the Domain of the Welfare State?; D.J.Snower - On the Damaging Side Effects of the Welfare System: How, Why and What to Do; E.S.Phelps - PART 2: ACTIVE LABOUR PRACTICES AND THE WELFARE STATE - Subsidizing Employment rather than Unemployment; R.Layard - The Labour Market, The Welfare State and European Convergence; R.Brunetta, L.Tronti & R.Turatto - Economic Effects of Work Sharing in a Dynamic Labor Turnover Model; H.T.Hoon - PART 3: ECONOMIC POLICIES AND THE WELFARE STATE - Unemployment, Competitiveness and the Welfare State; R.Mundell - Labour Market Regulation in Italy, Employment and Welfare; G.Goisis & D.Porrini - On a Recent Change in the Notion of Incomes Policy; G.Caravale - Welfare Spending and Employment Subsidies; C.Dell'Aringa PART 4: EQUITY AND EFFICIENCY - Is the European Welfare State Unsustainable?; E.Malinvaud - Distributive Equity and Economic Efficiency: Trade-off and Synergy; M.Baldassarri & G.Piga - Economic Growth, Poverty and Government: Income Support Programmes with Applications to Australia; N.Kakwani - PART 5: COMPETITIVENESS AND THE WELFARE STATE - Welfare State: Leaner or Starved? Competitiveness and Social Cohesion; J-P.Fitoussi - Deregulation, Welfare State and Competition in the Goods and Labor Markets; F.Forte & F.Padovano - The Welfare System and Endogenous Growth; E.S.Phelps - PART 6: ROUND TABLE ECONOMIC POLICY 'RECOMMENDATIONS'; G.de Rita, M.Baldassarri, F.P.Schioppa Kostoris, F.Forte & M.Bagella - Index