ABSTRACT:The purpose of this paper is to provide an analytical survey of the historical and normative evolution of the Italian Cassa Integrazione Guadagni (hereafter Earnings Integration Fund or EIF) through examination of the prevalent economic and juridical models during the 40 years of the EIF's existence.The evolution of the EIF in the periods examined is classified according to five theoretical models, so as to bring out the many different standards accumulated during the administration of the EIF, and the many measures adopted by Public Authorities in response to the various requirements which have arisen over time. The result is an overall reference framework for the EIF's present administration, which is characterised by the presence of both the need for various reforms and alterations, and an equal number of ways of carrying them out; from the development of an ever more direct link between crisis situations and specific EIF requirements, and the evident need to bring the institution within a normative framework correlated to a global labour policy. A verification of the different methods of utilising the EIF is therefore, for the authors, utilizable in defining suitable solutions for modern situations, which require effective EIF models to be worked out in conjunction with an appropriate mix of active labour policies.