Introduction and Overview

The XXV Conference of AIEL (Associazione Italiana degli Economisti del Lavoro) was held in the Università d’Annunzio in Chieti-Pescara in September 2010. The theme chosen for the thematic session was “Social Exclusion”, in line with the choice made by the European Union to make 2010 the “European year to fight poverty and social exclusion”. The European Commission defines social exclusion for societies and for individuals: “for societies: disintegration and fragmentation of social relations and hence of social cohesion… for individuals… a progressive process of marginalization leading to economic deprivation and various forms of social and cultural disadvantage”. From another perspective, the socially excluded can include individuals who are unable to participate in the basic economic and social activities of the society in which they live. In the Conference, the themes under investigation have ranged from causes to consequences of social exclusion, focusing on disability, gender gaps, youth, income distribution, discrimination, accidents at work, and literacy rates (LR). Selected works that were presented at the Conference have been invited to be part of this book, to which distinguished authors, not present at the Conference, have also been invited to contribute.