The paper is divided into two parts. In the first, in dialogue with the report of Luigi Mariucci, the author carries out some methodological observations on the possibility of identifying elements of the "dominant economic thinking" in the case law. In the second part, the author verifies the degree of autonomy or subordination of judges in respect of this "dominant economic thinking" with particular reference to a specific issue: that of the jurisprudential construction of the notion of transfer of undertaking (art. 2112 c.c.).