There is a striking difference between the large number of theoretical papers on firm organization and the lack of quantitative empirical evidence. If on the one side economists are increasingly concerned with organization of firms, on the other side organization still remains an ambiguous...

This paper is an empirical analysis of the personal characteristics of Italian high-tech entrepreneurs. We analyze differences in the characteristics of founders according to the sector of operation of the start-up. In particular, we investigate whether entrepreneurs in Internet related...

This paper aims to contribute to the empirical literature on industrial demography. It analyzes a stratified sample of the Italian metalworking industry composed of 810 plants with more than 10 employees. It considers plant closure over the period 1989-1997. Probit type econometric models are...

In spite of the diffusion of science parks in Europe, it is still unclear whether they have been successful in fostering the establishment and growth of new technology-based firms (NTBFs). This paper aims to contribute to answer such question. For this purpose, a sample composed of 45 Italian...

There are a growing body of theoretical work, wide anecdotal evidence, and a few large-scale empirical studies supporting the view that business firms quite rarely change their organizational structure, a phenomenon usually referred to in the literature as structural inertia. The present paper...

There are a growing body of theoretical work, wide anecdotal evidence, and a few large-scale empirical studies supporting the view that business firms quite rarely change their organizational structure, a phenomenon usually referred to in the literature as structural inertia. The present paper...