Dr Ivano Cardinale
Staff details
I joined Goldsmiths from the University of Cambridge, where I was the Mead Fellow in Economics (Junior Research Fellow) at Emmanuel College.
I was awarded the "Feltrinelli Giovani" Prize 2022 for the Social Sciences, the leading prize for Italian researchers under 40, by Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.
I am Editor-in-Chief of Structural Change and Economic Dynamics.
My research, which I describe as Structural Political Economy, draws on economic theory, political economy and social theory. It reinterprets how material, social and cognitive structures shape political-economic conflicts and are shaped by them in turn, also depending on actors’ representation of structures and of their positions therein.
I direct the pluralist and interdisciplinary undergraduate Economics programmes, which I co-initiated with Constantinos Repapis. I also lecture on the history of economic thought at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Cambridge.
Academic qualifications
- PhD, University of Cambridge
Teaching and Supervision
I direct the Goldsmiths undergraduate Economics programmes, which I co-initiated with Constantinos Repapis.
The programmes are unique in that they bring together theories and methods from different traditions in economics, studying their historical, social and political contexts, and exploring interfaces with other social sciences and humanities.
Research interests
My research, which I describe as Structural Political Economy, studies the interplay between material processes and political-economic conflicts.
It generalises and reinterprets key aspects of the structural economic analysis tradition, which since the mid-twentieth century has been developing a paradigm of economic analysis on Physiocratic, Classical and Keynesian lines.
My approach does not assume ex ante the relevant political-economic aggregations, such as classes or industry-based interest groups. Rather, it explores which aggregations are made possible by a given economic structure and, out of those, which aggregations might emerge in specific situations, and therefore what conflicts could arise.
It shows that which aggregations emerge depends on how actors represent economic structure and their position therein, and hence what they understand their interest to be.
Moreover, interdependencies in the economy impose the need to keep conflicts within boundaries that are compatible with systemic viability.
Different representations give rise to different definitions of competing interests and of viability requirements, which in turn generate different endogenous dynamics of the political-economic system.
Understanding the formation of aggregations and interests requires a theory of how actors operating within economic and social structures construe the opportunities afforded and the constraints imposed by those structures. A strand of my research is devoted to building such a theory. This strand draws on research on cognition within social and organisational spaces, develops a new approach to it, and recasts it to explain action within economic structures.
My research has appeared in journals such as Academy of Management Review, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Networks and Spatial Economics and Structural Change and Economic Dynamics. I have published books with Cambridge University Press and Palgrave Macmillan.
Publications and research outputs
Edited Book
Cardinale, Ivano and Scazzieri, Roberto, eds. 2018. The Palgrave Handbook of Political Economy. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137442543
Cardinale, Ivano; Coffman, D'Maris and Scazzieri, Roberto, eds. 2017. The Political Economy of the Eurozone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781316403730
Book Section
Cardinale, Ivano and Scazzieri, Roberto. 2023. Industrial development and the growth process: a structural framework. In: Patrizio Bianchi; Sandrine Labory and Philip R. Tomlinson, eds. Handbook of Industrial Development. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 403-424. ISBN 9781800379084
Cardinale, Ivano. 2018. Structural political economy. In: Ivano Cardinale and Roberto Scazzieri, eds. The Palgrave Handbook of Political Economy. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 769-784. ISBN 978-1-137-44254-3
Cardinale, Ivano and Scazzieri, Roberto. 2018. Political Economy as Theory of Society. In: Ivano Cardinale and Roberto Scazzieri, eds. The Palgrave Handbook of Political Economy. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 787-815. ISBN 978-1-137-44254-3
Cardinale, Ivano. 2018. Classical political economy. In: Ivano Cardinale and Roberto Scazzieri, eds. The Palgrave Handbook of Political Economy. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 171-189. ISBN 978-1-137-44254-3
Cardinale, Ivano and Scazzieri, Roberto. 2018. Political Economy: Outlining a Field. In: Ivano Cardinale and Roberto Scazzieri, eds. The Palgrave Handbook of Political Economy. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1-25. ISBN 978-1-137-44254-3
Cardinale, Ivano. 2018. Time Horizons and Human Activities. In: Enrico Decleva; Alberto Quadrio Curzio and Salvatore Veca, eds. Balzan Papers I. 2018. 1 Florence: Olschki, pp. 239-246. ISBN 9788822265951
Cardinale, Ivano; Coffman, D'Maris and Scazzieri, Roberto. 2017. The Eurozone as a Political Economy Field. In: Ivano Cardinale; D'Maris Coffman and Roberto Scazzieri, eds. The Political Economy of the Eurozone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-33. ISBN 9781316403730
Cardinale, Ivano. 2017. Sectoral Interests and ‘Systemic Interest’: Towards a Structural Political Economy of the Eurozone. In: Ivano Cardinale; D'Maris Coffman and Roberto Scazzieri, eds. The Political Economy of the Eurozone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 216-238. ISBN 9781316403730
Cardinale, Ivano and Landesmann, Michael. 2017. Exploring Sectoral Conflicts of Interest in the Eurozone: A Structural Political Economy Approach. In: Ivano Cardinale; D'Maris Coffman and Roberto Scazzieri, eds. The Political Economy of the Eurozone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 284-336. ISBN 9781316403730
Cardinale, Ivano; Coffman, D'Maris and Scazzieri, Roberto. 2017. Framing the Political Economy of the Eurozone: Structural Heuristics for Analysis and Policy. In: Ivano Cardinale; D'Maris Coffman and Roberto Scazzieri, eds. The Political Economy of the Eurozone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 483-551. ISBN 9781316403730
Cardinale, Ivano. 2015. Towards a structural political economy of resources. In: Mauro Baranzini; Claudia Rotondi and Roberto Scazzieri, eds. Resources, Production and Structural Dynamics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 198-210. ISBN 978-1107079090
Cardinale, Ivano and Scazzieri, Roberto. 2014. The political economy of the Eurozone: Crisis and prospects. In: Giuseppe De Vergottini, ed. Accademia delle Scienze dell’Istituto di Bologna. Classe di Scienze Morali. Rendiconti degli anni 2012-2013. Bologna: Bononia University Press, pp. 151-160. ISBN 9788873959489
Article
Cardinale, Ivano. 2023. Technological, economic and sociopolitical conditions for the energy transition [Rendere possibile la transizione energetica: condizioni tecnologiche, economiche e sociopolitiche]. CiMET Policy Brief, ISSN 2281-5023
Cardinale, Ivano. 2022. Vulnerability, resilience and ‘systemic interest’: a connectivity approach. Networks and Spatial Economics, 22(3), pp. 691-707. ISSN 1566-113X
Cardinale, Ivano; Reggiani, Aura and Scazzieri, Roberto. 2022. Vulnerability, Resilience and Complex Structures: A Connectivity Perspective. Networks and Spatial Economics, 22(3), pp. 409-413. ISSN 1566-113X
Cardinale, Ivano and Landesmann, Michael. 2022. Generalising the political economy of structural change: A Structural Political Economy approach. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 61, pp. 546-558. ISSN 0954-349X
Cardinale, Ivano. 2022. On means and ends in structural economic analysis: broadening the field of enquiry. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 61, pp. 450-457. ISSN 0954-349X
Cardinale, Ivano and Scazzieri, Roberto. 2022. Structures and transformations: heuristics of economic change. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 61, pp. 467-473. ISSN 0954-349X
Cardinale, Ivano. 2021. Structural change and development in the Italian South as a matter of systemic interest. L'industria. Review of Industrial Economics and Policy, 42(2), pp. 193-205. ISSN 0019-7416
Cardinale, Ivano and Runde, Jochen. 2021. From dishwashing to dishwasher cooking: on social positioning and how users are drawn towards alternative uses of existing technology. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 45(4), pp. 613-630. ISSN 0309-166X
Cardinale, Ivano and Scazzieri, Roberto. 2020. Productive interdependencies, interests and systemic conditions: Elements for a political economy of industrial structures. L'industria. Review of Industrial Economics and Policy, 41(1), pp. 21-50. ISSN 0019-7416
Cardinale, Ivano. 2020. Structural Political Economy: particular interests, systemic interests, and the structure of division of labour. Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Rendiconti della Classe di Scienze Morali, Storiche e Filologiche, 31, pp. 257-274. ISSN 0391-8181
Cardinale, Ivano and Scazzieri, Roberto. 2019. Explaining Structural Change: Actions and Transformations. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 51, pp. 393-404. ISSN 0954-349X
Cardinale, Ivano and Scazzieri, Roberto. 2019. Sul ritorno dell'economia politica. Istituto Lombardo - Accademia di Scienze e Lettere - Rendiconti di Lettere, 150, pp. 69-91. ISSN 2384-9150
Cardinale, Ivano. 2019. On action, embeddedness, and institutional change. Academy of Management Review, 44(3), pp. 673-700. ISSN 0363-7425
Cardinale, Ivano. 2019. Microfoundations of Institutions and the Theory of Action. Academy of Management Review, 44(2), pp. 467-470. ISSN 0363-7425
Cardinale, Ivano. 2018. A Bridge over Troubled Water: A Structural Political Economy of Vertical Integration. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 46, pp. 172-179. ISSN 0954-349X
Cardinale, Ivano. 2018. Beyond Constraining and Enabling: Toward New Microfoundations for Institutional Theory. Academy of Management Review, 43(1), pp. 132-155. ISSN 0363-7425
Cardinale, Ivano and Scazzieri, R. 2017. Beyond “Austerity vs. Expansion”: Elements for a Structural Theory of Liquidity Policy. Revue d'économie industrielle, 160, pp. 107-136. ISSN 0154-3229
Cardinale, Ivano and Scazzieri, R. 2016. Structural liquidity: The money-industry nexus. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 39, pp. 46-53. ISSN 0954-349X
Cardinale, Ivano and Coffman, D. 2014. Economic interdependencies and political conflict: The political economy of taxation in eighteenth-century Britain. Economia Politica. Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, 31(3), pp. 277-300. ISSN 1120-2890
Further profile content
Featured publications
2022:
On Means and Ends in Structural Economic Analysis: Broadening the Field of Enquiry
Structural Change and Economic Dynamics
2018:
Beyond Constraining and Enabling: Toward New Microfoundations for Institutional Theory
Academy of Management Review
2022:
Generalising the Political Economy of Structural Change: A Structural Political Economy Approach
Structural Change and Economic Dynamics (with M. Landesmann)
2021:
From Dishwashing to Dishwasher Cooking: On Social Positioning and how Users are Drawn towards Alternative Uses of Existing Technology
Cambridge Journal of Economics (with J. Runde)
2018:
A Bridge over Troubled Water: A Structural Political Economy of Vertical Integration
Structural Change and Economic Dynamics
Grants and awards
2022:
"Feltrinelli Giovani" Prize for the Social Sciences
The leading prize for Italian researchers under the age of 40. Awarded by Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in the presence of the President of the Republic. Monetary award of EUR 50,000.
2021:
Guest Faculty, LILA, Harvard University
Learning Innovation Laboratory, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University
2020:
“30 Papers in 30 Years” Anniversary Collection of Structural Change and Economic Dynamics
My article “A Bridge over Troubled Water” (2018) was selected for this anniversary collection, which features articles by distinguished scholars including several Nobel Prize winners.
2019:
Political Economy Research Fellowship
With a grant from the Independent Social Research Foundation
2016:
Life Membership
Clare Hall, Cambridge
2016:
Visiting Fellowship
Clare Hall, Cambridge
2012:
Mead Fellowship in Economics (Junior Research Fellowship)
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
2009:
Benavitch Scholarship
St Catharine's College, Cambridge
2008:
Doris Woodall Scholarship
Girton College, Cambridge
2008:
John Elliott Cairnes Award
Girton College, Cambridge
