Fabio Bulfone

first page of "Dependent development in digital capitalism: The politics of startup policies in the new periphery." abstract: As digital technology’s economic importance increases, policymakers pivot to supporting startups – new, small, high-risk firms that produce technological innovation. Tracing the passage of startup policies in Brazil and Spain between 2014 – 2022, this article argues that startup policies do little to reduce peripheral countries’ dependence on the core. In each case, startups advocated for these policies by relying on financial and organizational resources from the giant US-based technology firms known as “Big Tech.” The article makes three contributions to the framework of dependent development. First, it reinforces existing observations that dependence on Big Tech extends beyond the Global South. Second, it revives political analysis of dependency, exploring the political conditions for economic development in the periphery. Lastly, it shows how startups’ political dependence on Big Tech implies important limits on startups’ ability to lead peripheral economies out of dependence on the core.

Out now in Competition & Change
@compchange.bsky.social

“Dependent development in digital
capitalism: The politics of startup
policies in the new periphery”

@journals.sagepub.com
#polisky
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

1/n

🌍 New in @nature.com: The geoeconomic turn in decarbonization, with data from Simon Evenett et al. and @industrialpolicy.bsky.social @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social @natureatcal.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵

We're also happy to announce the calendar for the 2025-2026 CONNECT Seminar Series, featuring a brilliant line up of CONNECT members from @unibo.it and SPS visiting scholars @fbulfone.bsky.social (Leiden) & Anuscher Farahat (UWien). Every first Tuesday of the month, 1-2pm - all welcome!

The slumbering giant: towards a political economy of financialised insurance This paper introduces the concept of financialised insurance through an analysis of the European insurance sector in the context of recent capitalist restructuring. It addresses a notable gap in th...

The slumbering giant: towards a political economy of financialised insurance, by Vanessa Endrejat, @fbulfone.bsky.social, and Arjen van der Heide

We are delighted that our Special Issue on "The Politics of Growth, Stagnation and Upgrading in Peripheral Economies" coedited w/ @fbulfone.bsky.social & Aldo Madariaga is now out in Competition & Change @compchange.bsky.social, Vol. 29(3–4).
🔗 doi.org/10.1177/1024...

Much More Than a Report: The Search for Europe's New Political Identity and the Politics of Competitiveness Click on the article title to read more.

📘🇪🇺 Much more than a report
In our new @jcms-eu.bsky.social piece, Lucia Quaglia and I argue that the Draghi and Letta reports go beyond competitiveness - they mark a shift in the EU’s political identity. But this entails huge challenges!

Open access here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The power of the golden share When President Trump approved the merger between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel he demanded a so-called “golden share.” It gives the White House a say in key business decisions. So, what happens when the...

Trump took a "golden share" in US Steel. What does this say about the steel industry, Trump's priorities, and how industrial policy is being used in 2025?

@fbulfone.bsky.social and I spent the hour with On Point getting into it.

Margaret Thatcher makes an appearance!
www.wbur.org/onpoint/2025...

Title page "Shifting Paths? The Evolution of Southern European Growth Trajectories Between the Global Financial Crisis and the Covid Pandemic." Authors Fabio Bulfone, Mischa Stratenwerth, and Adrianna Tassinari

Abstract Keywords: Comparative political economy, economic sectors, export growth, growth models, post-austerity, Southern Europe This paper traces the growth trajectories of the Southern European economies (Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain) from the financial to the covid crisis. From a review of the comparative political economy literature focusing on Southern Europe, we derive three propositions regarding the growth profile, the development of high value-added services and manufacturing exports, and employment outcomes. To assess the accuracy of these propositions, we conduct growth decompositions based on import-adjusted demand components as well as on sectoral output and employment indicators. The data show that Southern European economies are similar in that export-led growth has not been sufficient to boost aggregate growth, stimulate high value-added services or manufacturing, reverse pro-cyclical employment declines, or create high-wage employment opportunities. But the Southern European economies also differ, both in terms of their sectoral growth profiles and their aggregate performance. In the second half of the decade, Portugal and Spain managed to combine domestic demand and exports to achieve stronger growth than Italy and Greece. Sectoral developments in Portugal and Spain (and to a lesser extent in Italy) tentatively suggest a potential “Iberian growth path” that is compatible with euro area constraints but ultimately peripheral. The paper concludes by considering the empirical and theoretical implications of these findings for the study of the Southern European model of capitalism.

In a new MPIfG Discussion Paper, @fbulfone.bsky.social, @m-stratenwerth.bsky.social, and @aritassinari.bsky.social trace the growth trajectories of Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain from the financial crisis to the covid pandemic. ‬

🔗 pure.mpg.de/pubman/faces...

The PEPP group at Leiden University’s Institute of Public Administration is pleased to announce the next PE_PP Talk by Aneta Spendzharova (Maastricht University) on May 12!
Details below

Please PM if interested
@sebdiessner.bsky.social @nataschavanderzwan.bsky.social @alexandreafonso.bsky.social

Interested in teaching EU governance, political economy and crises—but don't know where to start?

Then this one’s for you
doi.org/10.1080/0703...

Thanks to 3 excellent recent volumes by @manuelamoschella.bsky.social+co-authors @amyverdun.bsky.social @achimhurrelmann.bsky.social
A Bongardt/F Torres

Is politics Bad for banking? how political ownership shaped the historical trajectory of Italian banks The relationship between politics and banking is complex. On the one hand, political connections are often seen as detrimental to bank profitability and financial stability. On the other hand, hist...

🌟 Excited to announce our latest article in New Political Economy 🌟

@fbulfone.bsky.social and I investigate the complex interplay of politics and banking challenging the notion that political influence always harms banks.

"Is Politics Bad for Banking?" - Full article here: doi.org/10.1080/1356...

On my way to Bochum where I'll spend the next days discussing the nuts and bolts of industrial policy with a stellar line-up of scholars.

This workshop, co-organized with Salih Bora and @fbulfone.bsky.social, is hosted and generously supported by the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS).

👇

PhD candidate The Institute of Public Administration at Leiden University is looking for aPhD Candidate for the research project ‘Political Economy of the Green and Digital Transition between the Local, National an...

Come work with us! 📢

Fully-funded PhD position (4 years) at the Institute of Public Administration at Leiden University on political economy of the green and digital transition

Deadline: March 31 🚨

Supervised by the amazing @fbulfone.bsky.social & myself

www.universiteitleiden.nl/vacatures/20...

Our Political Economy and Public Policy research group at Leiden University finally has a website! Check out our work 🔽

With @alexandreafonso.bsky.social, @fbulfone.bsky.social @sebdiessner.bsky.social, Samir Negash, Emily Anne Wolff, Janna Goijaerts and Roelien van der Wel