Real wages are falling in Italy, but the blame is not with union bargaining, which continues to protect workers' salaries. According to economist Innocenzo Cipolletta, the problem stems from the Italian economy's trend toward low-productivity and low-wage businesses. In the past (the 1950s and 1960s), innovation transferred workers away from agriculture and toward industry and services, meaning, from low-paying employment to higher-paying (and more productive) ones. Currently, innovation is transferring workers from high-paying services (finance, communications, etc.) and industry to low-productivity, low-paying services (catering, personal care, occasional activities, etc.). It is the growth model that’s being called into question, not the role of social partners, who are doing their job in an area that is increasingly contracting. Cipolletta believes that a legally mandated minimum wage could assist to halt this trend.