Inefficenza pubblica e fallimento privato: il caso Gtc

Public Inefficiency and Private Failure: the Gtc Case Objectives . This essay examines the Contratto di Programma between Gtc S.p.a., Gepi S.p.a. and the Italian Government signed in 1990 in order to implement in Castrovillari, in the Calabria region, a high technology cotton textile pole. Throughout the duration of the CdP a number of relevant institutional changes gave rise to delays in the payment of public funds, making it difficult for the private party to carry on the initial project as planned. So, the investment projects were revised and reduced by means of a new agreement between parties, called Convenzione di aggiornamento. In consequence of the serious difficulties in firm?s management and finance, the Gtc company went into liquidation in 1998. The CdP was partially revoked in 2001, as regards two unfulfilled projects (the Research Centre and the Research Project). Methods and Results This case-study has been carried out both by means of interviews with several protagonists of this experience (the entrepreneur, trade-unionists, ex Gtc workers) and the examination of official documents from Government archives. Conclusions Three main suggestions on improving the efficacy and efficiency of CdP stem from this case study: i) the importance of considering the internal coherence of the measures, making each single project in the CdP able not just to coexist, but also to evolve together; ii) the necessity of taking into account the different interests of each contractual party in carrying out all the project included in the Contract; iii) the importance of aligning the time of bureaucracy with the firm?s time given the importance of market and financial constraints.