The essay concerns the theme of "the Importance of Awards” starting from the book of Giacinto Dragonetti, who had attended Antonio Genovesi’s lessons on Civil Economy, entitled “Treaty of Virtues and Awards” (1766). The book of Giacinto Dragonetti, who was a tax lawyer and a distinguished magistrate, appears as a logical completion of Cesare Beccaria’s book “On Crimes and Punishments” (1764). The innovative (at that time) thesis of Dragonetti is the following: as it is right to punish crimes in violation of the laws of the State (as suggested by Cesare Beccaria), so it is equally right to reward virtues that benefit society by Institutions. According to Dragonetti, who was an exponent of Neapolitan Enlightenment, the task of rewarding virtues in his time would have been up to the Sovereign of the Kingdom of Naples (Ferdinand IV). The acknowledgment of virtues is fundamental from different points of view according to Dragonetti: for the good government of the State, for the growth of social cohesion (because we should reward first all the “civic virtues” which are indispensable for living in common), for the proper functioning of the market (because the “civic virtues” feed social capital, the fiduciary bonds between people which smooth the execution of the contracts lowering transaction costs). Virtues are preciousness for the achievement of social harmony because they have two fundamental ingredients: the gratuitous gift by the virtuous and the fact that the action of the virtuous has Common Good as its fruit. If governments want to give social acknowledgment to virtue, it should take the form of award and not of incentive. The essay analyzes the differences between incentives and awards. Incentives have the risk of crowding out intrinsic or transcendental motivations of prosocial citizens. Dragonetti, despite being a lawyer and not an economist, has applied to economic activities the logic of the prize-awarding studied in political and social field, elaborating, in the view of Civil Economy, an entire program of economic, political and social transformation of the Kingdom of Naples.
The Importance of Awards
Montesi Cristina
2018
Abstract
The essay concerns the theme of "the Importance of Awards” starting from the book of Giacinto Dragonetti, who had attended Antonio Genovesi’s lessons on Civil Economy, entitled “Treaty of Virtues and Awards” (1766). The book of Giacinto Dragonetti, who was a tax lawyer and a distinguished magistrate, appears as a logical completion of Cesare Beccaria’s book “On Crimes and Punishments” (1764). The innovative (at that time) thesis of Dragonetti is the following: as it is right to punish crimes in violation of the laws of the State (as suggested by Cesare Beccaria), so it is equally right to reward virtues that benefit society by Institutions. According to Dragonetti, who was an exponent of Neapolitan Enlightenment, the task of rewarding virtues in his time would have been up to the Sovereign of the Kingdom of Naples (Ferdinand IV). The acknowledgment of virtues is fundamental from different points of view according to Dragonetti: for the good government of the State, for the growth of social cohesion (because we should reward first all the “civic virtues” which are indispensable for living in common), for the proper functioning of the market (because the “civic virtues” feed social capital, the fiduciary bonds between people which smooth the execution of the contracts lowering transaction costs). Virtues are preciousness for the achievement of social harmony because they have two fundamental ingredients: the gratuitous gift by the virtuous and the fact that the action of the virtuous has Common Good as its fruit. If governments want to give social acknowledgment to virtue, it should take the form of award and not of incentive. The essay analyzes the differences between incentives and awards. Incentives have the risk of crowding out intrinsic or transcendental motivations of prosocial citizens. Dragonetti, despite being a lawyer and not an economist, has applied to economic activities the logic of the prize-awarding studied in political and social field, elaborating, in the view of Civil Economy, an entire program of economic, political and social transformation of the Kingdom of Naples.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
