Plinio Limata

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are increasingly called to substantiate their impact on society in terms of inclusivity and social sustainability, as prioritized in the pursuit of the “Third Mission” (TM). Today, HEIs are confronted with the demand to ensure refugees’ inclusivity. However, how administrative and teaching staff enact such change within the organization to match the TM goals is under-investigated. This study explores the adoption of the European Qualification Passport for Refugees (EQPR) as an instrument for universities to pursue the TM in Italy. By adopting a theoretical sense-making approach, we find that the individual role of the staff in fostering organizational change depends on the adopted “emergent” approach to change and on internal factors, such as individual perceptions and experiences. This study contributes to the literature by showing contradictory aspects of the HEIs’ pursuit of the TM. It sheds light on the interplay between different dimensions ...

Today there is a growing consensus on the benefits of the platform economy. All the stakeholders are
fairly remunerated, and the market sphere is grounded on the parties’ mutual advantage; points of equilibria are reached more efficiently, and costs of production and transaction are lowered thanks to
the channels created by the platforms. We question this idyllic picture highlighting their role as value extractors in current market societies, which parallels the role of rent in the modern era’s economic
system. Therefore, we employ Achille Loria’s (1857–1943, dubbed ‘the Italian Marx’) philosophical and economic categories to understand whether the platform economy is a form of contemporary
rent-seeking and, if so, to suggest steps to avoid its continued, yet hidden, value extraction.