The impact of political calculus on the reform of institutions and growth: Old and new examples

In this chapter, we analyze the impact of political calculus on the decision of implementing reforms in Italy. Specifically, we interpret the evolution of the legislation about media in the last decades as a consequence of the choice of policy-makers to favour their own interests rather than to gurantee an effective development of the sector. We reach the conclusion that the media sector represents a key element to promote economic development, but we recognize that the existing reforms fail to obtain this results.