IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/usi/wpaper/727.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

What Makes a Successful Entrepreneur? Historical Evidence from Italy (XIX-XX Centuries)

Author

Listed:
  • Alessandro Nuvolari
  • Pier Angelo Toninelli
  • MIchelangelo Vasta

Abstract

in this paper we employ a “quantitative” prosopographical approach to study the nature and the determinants of entrepreneurial success. Our main source is the “Biographical Dictionary of Italian Entrepreneurs” which contains very detailed information on 608 major Italian entrepreneurs active over more than two centuries. Our findings indicate the multidimensional nature of entrepreneurial success, comprising both a strictly economic and a “celebrity” dimension. Concerning the determinants of success, our findings point to the “political” nature of Italian capitalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandro Nuvolari & Pier Angelo Toninelli & MIchelangelo Vasta, 2016. "What Makes a Successful Entrepreneur? Historical Evidence from Italy (XIX-XX Centuries)," Department of Economics University of Siena 727, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    • Handle: RePEc:usi:wpaper:727
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repec.deps.unisi.it/quaderni/727.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. -, 2006. "A History of Governesses in Russia," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 3, pages 285-290.
    2. Schultz, Theodore W, 1975. "The Value of the Ability to Deal with Disequilibria," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 827-846, September.
    3. Unknown, 2006. "Conservation of Australia's Historic Heritage Places," Inquiry Reports 31896, Productivity Commission.
    4. ., 2006. "History and Development Studies," Chapters, in: David Alexander Clark (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Development Studies, chapter 47, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    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. Alberto Rinaldi & Giulia Tagliazucchi, 2018. "Women Entrepreneurs in Italy: A Prosopographic Study," Department of Economics 0129, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".

    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. Bertoli, Simone & Dequiedt, Vianney & Zenou, Yves, 2016. "Can selective immigration policies reduce migrants' quality?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 100-109.
    2. Tao Yang, Dennis, 2004. "Education and allocative efficiency: household income growth during rural reforms in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 137-162, June.
    3. Campos, Nauro F. & Jolliffe, Dean, 2003. "After, before and during: returns to education in Hungary (1986-1998)," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 377-390, December.
    4. de Walque, Damien, 2007. "How does the impact of an HIV/AIDS information campaign vary with educational attainment? Evidence from rural Uganda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 686-714, November.
    5. Feng, Yao, 2011. "Local spillovers and learning from neighbors: Evidence from durable adoptions in rural China," MPRA Paper 33924, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Chiswick, Carmel U., 2003. "Immigrant Religious Adjustment: An Economic Approach to Jewish Migrations," IZA Discussion Papers 863, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Kochar, Anjini, 2004. "Urban influences on rural schooling in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 113-136, June.
    8. Francisco Queiró, 2022. "Entrepreneurial Human Capital and Firm Dynamics [How Large Are Human-Capital Externalities? Evidence from Compulsory Schooling Laws]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(4), pages 2061-2100.
    9. Becker, Gary S. & Rubinstein, Yona, 2011. "Fear and the response to terrorism: an economic analysis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121740, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Scobie, Grant M. & Franklin, David L., 1977. "The Impact Of Supervised Credit Programmes On Technological Change In Developing Agriculture," Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 21(1), pages 1-12, April.
    11. Heiman, Amir & Zilberman, David, 1996. "The Economics of Demonstration," CUDARE Working Papers 198651, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    12. Hoyt Bleakley & Joseph Ferrie, 2016. "Shocking Behavior: Random Wealth in Antebellum Georgia and Human Capital Across Generations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(3), pages 1455-1495.
    13. Sonia Laszlo, 2005. "Self-employment earnings and returns to education in rural Peru," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(7), pages 1247-1287.
    14. Osei, Mensah J. & Lawer, D.R. & Aidoo, R., 2013. "Consumers’ Use and Understanding of Food Label Information and Effect on their Purchasing Decision in Ghana; a Case Study of Kumasi Metropolis," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, Asian Economic and Social Society (AESS), vol. 2(03), pages 1-18, September.
    15. Jere R. Behrman & John Hoddinott & John A. Maluccio, & Erica Soler-Hampejsek & Emily L. Behrman & Reynaldo Martorell & Manuel Ramirez-Zea & Aryeh D. Stein, 2006. "What Determines Adult Cognitive Skills? Impacts of Pre-Schooling, Schooling and Post-Schooling Experiences in Guatemala," PIER Working Paper Archive 06-027, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    16. David Gould & Roy Ruffin, 1995. "Human capital, trade, and economic growth," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 131(3), pages 425-445, September.
    17. Nay, Myo Aung, 2011. "Agricultural efficiency of rice farmers in Myanmar : a case study in selected areas," IDE Discussion Papers 306, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    18. Fleisher, Belton M. & Sabirianova, Klara & Wang, Xiaojun, 2005. "Returns to skills and the speed of reforms: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe, China, and Russia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 351-370, June.
    19. Wallace E. Huffman & Matthew Rousu & Jason F. Shogren & Abebayehu Tegene, 2004. "Who Do Consumers Trust for Information: The Case of Genetically Modified Foods?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1222-1229.
    20. Lybbert, Travis & Sumner, Daniel, 2010. "Agricultural Technologies for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Developing Countries: Policy Options for Innovation and Technology Diffusion," Climate Change 320104, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N73 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N74 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N83 - Economic History - - Micro-Business History - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N84 - Economic History - - Micro-Business History - - - Europe: 1913-
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:usi:wpaper:727. 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: Fabrizio Becatti (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/desieit.html .

    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.