In the years of the recent economic crisis, liberalization policies has taken on a new prominence in the public debate, especially in Southern European countries as Italy. However, The liberalization policies are confronted with different institutional environments in which the action of convergence does not cause the same effects in all countries. This analysis helps to explain the slowness and limits of a top-down liberalization in Italy that is not coherent with country’s corporate and familist culture. Therefore, the social costs of liberalization policies are higher than the expected benefits, where the reform isn’t accompanied by a high level of coordination and legitimation among the actors involved.
Keywords: Market regulation, institutions, reform, privatization, capitalism