Paolo Sylos Labini : A Memoir

The paper assesses the scholarly contribution of Paolo Sylos Labini from the point of view of the analysis of structural economic dynamics. In particular, the paper calls attention to Sylos Labini's attention to economic history as a heuristic device allowing the detection of structural transformation amidst changes of a more transient character, and especially to his interest in the connections between institutional (or organizational) changes and changes in the over-all mode of operation of the economic system. It is argued that both Sylos Labini's interest in the long-run dynamics of economic systems and his attention to reform policy as a tool to steer structural and institutional change place firmly his lifework in the analytical tradition of classical political economy.