IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/bushst/v48y2006i3p354-375.html

In search of a new industry: Giovanni Battista Pirelli and his educational journey through Europe, 1870-1871

Author

Listed:
  • Francesca Polese

Abstract

Knowledge is increasingly considered a crucial resource for economic and business development. However, it is a broad concept that calls for further specifications: different kinds of knowledge call for diverse transfer and learning mechanisms, crucial for their application to economic activity. Focusing on the case of Giovanni Battista Pirelli (1848-1932) - Italian engineer and entrepreneur, founder (1872) of the first Italian rubber company, G.B. Pirelli & Co. - and his educational journey through Europe (1870-1871), this article investigates the complexity of the learning mechanism which in the second half of the nineteenth century allowed a relatively peripheral region like Northern Italy to reduce the gap separating it from the centre of European industrialization. Special attention is devoted to the characteristics of the rubber manufacturing industry and to the specific difficulties encountered in the acquisition and transfer of knowledge (including technology) related to a relatively new and rapidly evolving industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesca Polese, 2006. "In search of a new industry: Giovanni Battista Pirelli and his educational journey through Europe, 1870-1871," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(3), pages 354-375.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:48:y:2006:i:3:p:354-375
    DOI: 10.1080/00076790600791797
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00076790600791797
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00076790600791797?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zamagni, Vera, 1997. "The Economic History of Italy 1860-1990," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198292890.
    2. G. N. von Tunzelmann, 1995. "Technology and Industrial Progress," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 437, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mario BENASSI, 2014. "Exploring Incubation Performances and Its Determinants," Departmental Working Papers 2014-09, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francesca Francioli & Alberto Quagli, 2021. "Management accounting change and the rise of Vespa (1884-1965)," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(suppl. 2), pages 313-338.
    2. Ethan Ilzetzki & Saverio Simonelli, 2017. "Measuring Productivity Dispersion: Lessons From Counting One-Hundred Million Ballots," CSEF Working Papers 483, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    3. Mark Knell & Simone Vannuccini, 2022. "Tools and concepts for understanding disruptive technological change after Schumpeter," Jena Economics Research Papers 2022-005, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    4. Wali Ayad Ayid, 2014. "The role of geography in the analysis of industrial development strategies within the spatial organisation of a region," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 24(24), pages 1-14, June.
    5. Chan, Felix & Marinova, Dora & McAleer, Michael, 2004. "Modelling the asymmetric volatility of electronics patents in the USA," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 169-184.
    6. Martinez, Marco & Nuvolari, Alessandro & Vasta, Michelangelo, 2025. "Rails of Progress? Exploring the nexus between railroad access and innovation in Italy (19th-20th centuries)," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    7. Nomaler, Önder & Verspagen, Bart, 2022. "Some new views on product space and related diversification," MERIT Working Papers 2022-011, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    8. Diego de Queiroz Machado & Ana Silvia Rocha Ipiranga, 2013. "Characteristics and performance of knowledge networks in the biotechnology sector," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 17(3), pages 350-367.
    9. Carlo Ciccarelli & Tommaso Proietti, 2013. "Patterns of industrial specialisation in post-Unification Italy," Scandinavian Economic History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(3), pages 259-286, November.
    10. Arina Matvejeva, 2014. "Determinants of persistence in innovation: evidence from the case study of the 'Eye Microsurgery' Complex," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5-6), pages 544-562, September.
    11. Rogo, Francesco & Cricelli, Livio & Grimaldi, Michele, 2014. "Assessing the performance of open innovation practices: A case study of a community of innovation," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 60-80.
    12. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/2530 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Slavo Radosevic, 2003. "The emerging industrial architecture of the wider Europe: The co-evolution of industrial and political structures," UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series 29, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).
    14. Attila Havas, 2016. "Social and Business Innovations: Are Common Measurement Approaches Possible?," Foresight-Russia Форсайт, CyberLeninka;Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Национальный исследовательский университет «Высшая школа экономики», vol. 10(2 (eng)), pages 58-80.
    15. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/2530 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Glen O'Hara, 2009. "'What the electorate can be expected to swallow': Nationalisation, transnationalism and the shifting boundaries of the state in post-war Britain," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(4), pages 501-528.
    17. Lauren M. McLaren & Vanessa A. Baird, 2006. "Of Time and Causality: A Simple Test of the Requirement of Social Capital in Making Democracy Work in Italy," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 54(4), pages 889-897, December.
    18. Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2005. "Catching up: What are the Critical Factors for success?," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20050401, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    19. Slavo Radosevic, 2004. "A Two‐Tier or Multi‐Tier Europe? Assessing the Innovation Capacities of Central and East European Countries in the Enlarged EU," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 641-666, September.
    20. Clara Turner & Marco R Di Tommaso & Chiara Pollio & Karen Chapple, 2020. "Who will win the electric vehicle race? The role of place-based assets and policy," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 35(4), pages 337-362, June.
    21. Jerry Courvisanos, 2012. "Political Economy of Innovation and Sustainable Development," Chapters, in: Blandine Laperche & Nadine Levratto & Dimitri Uzunidis (ed.), Crisis, Innovation and Sustainable Development, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    22. Nikolay Nenovsky & Giovanni Pavanelli & Kalina Dimitrova, 2007. "Exchange Control in Italy and Bulgaria in the Interwar Period: History and Perspectives," ICER Working Papers 40-2007, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:48:y:2006:i:3:p:354-375. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FBSH20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.