It is known that meritocracy in Italy is lacking. But how do we position ourselves compared to the rest of Europe? Latest.
The says it Meritometer, the first quantitative indicator measuring merit at European level. Here's how it was built and the reasons behind Italy's poor performance.
How is meritocracy measured?
The Meritometer was calculated by a team from the Catholic University of Milan for the Meritocracy Forum. The study compares the situation of merit in Italy with respect to 11 other European countries (those for which all the data to calculate it were available). The Meritometer is an index calculated by aggregating seven sub-indexes, which measure as many pillars of merit:
1. freedom, both of people and of organizations;
2. equal opportunities;
3. quality of the education system;
4. attractiveness for talents;
5. rules, compliance with which is measured in terms of government powers, absence of corruption, application of legislation, administrative transparency, fundamental rights, order and security, civil and criminal justice;
6. transparency, both in the activities of the Public Administration and in the relations of private individuals with it;
7. social mobility, in terms of the possibility of access to higher education levels for children of parents with a low level of education.
Each pillar of merit is in turn measured through one or more quantitative indicators. The Meritometer is given by the average of the scores obtained by each country for each pillar of merit, calculated on a scale from 0 to 100. The results obtained have passed statistical robustness tests: this means that they are reliable.
Merit in Europe in an infographic
According to the Meritometer, the first in the class are the Nordic countries (Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden), while Italy is bringing up the rear. Let's see the results in detail in the infographic.
Why is Italy last in Europe on merit?
Observing the graphs, a question arises: do we "deserve" the last place in the standings?
According to Giorgio Neglia, research curator and advisor to the Forum della Meritocrazia, yes: "The subjective perception of a low level of meritocracy in Italy is supported by the data, which show a gap of 30 points from Germany and over 40 from Finland".
Despite this, Neglia remains optimistic: “We are confident that in the coming years, by acting on the various pillars of meritocracy, we will be able to recover positions in the standings in the medium term. I believe that the educational aspect is crucial: the school reform should promote a new civic education in favor of merit for young people, taught from primary school to university. We also need to change the contextual conditions: company management (meritocracy and leadership in the board of directors), equal opportunities, rules, transparency, fight against corruption and legislative simplification".
Observing the data, it emerges that we are penalized above all by freedom and transparency, measured respectively by the economic freedom index and by the Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International. Why?
According to the curator of the research, “corruption weighs on transparency, which with a typically Italian approach, it is thought to fight with the laws. In reality, there are too many rules. On the contrary, they should be simplified. We need to affect bureaucrats, with selection and training in favor of merit”.
But why is our freedom score so low? “Bureaucracy, cumbersome sector regulations, constraints on competition, almost medieval castes and corporations,” says Neglia. “We go with the Cinquecento, while the rest of the world goes with Ferrari”.
