The aim of the first part of this paper is to analyse the role of institutions in Smith's thought, with special emphasis upon the reciprocal relations which link together individual behaviour, the evolution of property rights, relations of subordination and personal incentives up to the...

Analysis of Hearn's approach to industrial localisation shows that he anticipated with unusual acuteness some issues also addressed by contemporary debate on the cause of the rise and competitiveness of firms' conglomerations. One of the main themes of Plutology is analysis of efficiency and the...

A comparative reading of The Wealth of Nations and of The Theory of Moral Sentiments has made it possible to identify the characteristics of Smith's 'undertaker', and to reveal the irreconcilable nature of these with those that Bentham ascribed to 'projectors'. In particular, Smith developed a...

In this paper I have attempted to show the Hutchesonian roots of Smith's approach in relation both to the role and character of the prudent man, with the attendant references to the sense of propriety, and the theory of value. As regards the first point, the paper claims that Smith construed the...

This paper analyses the impact of subsidies for the promotion of Italian joint ventures (JVs) aimed at LDC and transition economies. The empirical analysis is carried out on a unique dataset of 172 JVs interviewed during 1998 by means of a closed-answer qualitative-quantitative questionnaire....

Innovating firms use their finance structure as a signalling device to attract outside investors. This argument is developed in standard static principal-agent models dealing with New Technology Based Firms (NTBFs) and large firms undertaking an aggressive R&D strategy. In the case of NTBFs, the...