Determinants of new-firm startups in Italy

This paper investigates the factors affecting the start up or not of entrepreneurial activities in Italy by focusing on the role played by some socio-demographic and entrepreneurial characteristics during 2001-2010. The paper presents a quantitative analysis of new business process in Italy by using data come from the Italian Adults Population Survey of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). Results show that nascent entrepreneurs in Italy have a lower likelihood of having more than 45 years old respect to non nascent entrepreneurs, a higher likelihood for appertaining to the lowest income level and that are less likely to declare that they do not have the skills for entrepreneurship. Fostering entrepreneurship (especially among females and youth) and enhancing entrepreneurial attitudes and skills could represent an important way to add variety to the Italian economic process, enhance competitiveness, and fully realize its innovation potential. However, there are also structural barriers that influence the propensity to become a Nascent Entrepreneur. Policy makers should address context-specific tools favoring venture creation, especially introducing incentives for female and young entrepreneurs, and supporting the development of entrepreneurial networks.

This paper analyses the relation between the European expenditure for entrepreneurship in 2007-2013 and new firm formation in the Italian provinces (NUTS3 level). Binomial regression models are used to estimate the effects of public spending as well as of a set of control variables drawn from the literature on new firm formation. We find that EU spending has a positive and significant effect on new firm formation. We also find a clear evidence of positive effects of: human capital, demand growth (measured by the average annual growth rate of population) and density of economic activity (measured by the number of existing firms per thousand inhabitants). The role of other factors is less clear but, overall, the findings confirm that even in a time of recession, the resources used for entrepreneurship policy had the desired effect and more can be done in the future to extend their scope and coverage.

Small Business Economics, 1995

In this paper the determinants of new firm formation in the producer services are studied by using National Security data on firms with at least one employee. Two ratios are computed and analysed for the 95 Italian provinces: an index of fertility represented by the share of new enterprises on employees, and a birth rate represented for each province by the ratio between new enterprises and resident population. On examination of the determinants of this process, we found that the average wage rates and the ratio of utilized credit to the total line of credit negatively affect both indexes, and that both indexes are affected positively by sector growth and by a measure of small firm presence. The index of fertility is also explained by a dummy variable which identifies for each province those policies which are aimed at fostering the process of new firm formation. The birth rate is instead affected by a dummy variable which is equal to one for the provinces in which the chief towns of each region are located and zero otherwise, and by the potential demand for new producer services arising from the industrial sector.

Small Business Economics

GraftonBuilding (3-B2), Via Roentgen, 1-20136 Milan-Italy www.certet.unibocconi.it CERTeT was established at the end of 1995. It focuses on the following research areas: territorial economics (both regional and urban); transportation economics and the analysis of transport infrastructure (railways, highways, airways, waterways); the economics of tourism (the Centre organizes an advanced course on this subject); the evaluation of regional and local policies, paying specific attention to the use of EU structural funds; and the economics and management of water resources, and their role in local development. New Working Paper Series The New Working Paper Series circulates research in progress, policy notes, and discussions on economic issues falling within the competences of CERTeT. We host researchers working in "Regional Science" from inside Bocconi University as well as researchers belonging to the wide relational networks built up by CERTeT in its more than 20 years of activity.

SSRN Electronic Journal

In 2012 the Italian Parliament introduced into Italian law a special section in the Companies Register and a large number of financial incentives to create a favorable environment for the development of 'innovative start-ups' (ISUPs). In this paper we compare ISUPs with other start-ups. In accordance with the eligibility criteria established by law, ISUPs show a striking capacity for innovation apparent in a higher incidence of intangible assets and the longer time it takes to begin selling their products. ISUPs also report higher investment rates and stronger growth in sales and assets, while their financial structures are characterized by higher capitalization and greater availability of liquid assets. Based on propensity score matching, we also highlight some direct effects of the 2012 law on their financial structures, almost exclusively on ISUPs operating in the service sectors: their external funding, either debt or equity, increases more than for other similar firms; a stronger rise in investment rates is specifically associated with a larger upsurge in their capital.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

We use a simple model to analyze the founding stage of new firms. Our goal is to characterize the directional causality between the expected rewards from entrepreneurship and the length of prior labor market experience that entrepreneurs possess. We test predictions about the timing of the formation of new firms on a sample of Italian entrepreneurs who founded new firms in the period 1992-2004. We obtain three main results. First, the timing of the foundation of new firms is determined primarily by the expectation of higher income and not so much by the perception of risk. Second, earlier experience of entrepreneurs in full time employment has a positive impact on the size of newly founded firms. Third, when we separate founders who work alone from founders who work with family partners, we find that the latter establish and control larger firms.

Journal of Management and …, 1999

Global Business and Economics Review, 2005

General agreement exists on Italy's strong entrepreneurial tradition. It is also customarily believed that the large majority of entrepreneurial firms are located in the Northern part of the country. Recent years however, have seen an increasing number of small ventures being initiated by younger Italians in the South. Using an original data set collected in Italy during spring 2001, the paper documents the shift taking place in the Italian entrepreneurial landscape. In addition to demographic factors, previous managerial experience and alertness to unexploited opportunities are shown to be among the main reasons for the redistribution of entrepreneurial activity across the country.

2010

The paper proposes a descriptive model of firm growth which assumes that learning processes are conditional on existing competencies of the firm and its founders. We suggest the idea that firms who do not grow under all realizations of potentially profitable opportunities can be considered as zerolearning. In order to explain why some firms are zero-learning and how these are different from growing ones, we put forward and discuss the hypothesis that both start-up size and founders' preentry history affect the firm's ability to adjust to market. Using a sample of 3,905 Italian firms born in 1999 and 2000, we find that individual competencies influence start-up size, but not directly growth. We also find a significant nonlinear relationship between start-up size and growth, implying that firms which were born smaller than a given size grow significantly less. The results support the hypothesis that multiple and heterogeneous growth processes coexist and that the growth process of microfirms below a given organizational threshold may be structurally different, in the long run, from that of firms starting up above that threshold.

International Journal of Industrial Organization, 1999

The aim of this paper is to shed some light on industry dynamics in Italy. For this purpose we use a large and comprehensive longitudinal data base, identifying the start-up of new manufacturing firms and their subsequent post-entry performance. This enables us to link the survival ...