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Explaining business groups started by habitual entrepreneurs in the Italian manufacturing sector

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  • Donato Iacobucci

Abstract

The technical (plant) and legal (company) units normally used in official statistics do not take into consideration the phenomenon of business groups: i.e. sets of companies controlled by the same entrepreneur. The main aims of this paper are to assess the presence of such groups in the Italian small firm manufacturing sector and to examine the causes of their formation. Two data sets are used: the first is a representative sample of Italian manufacturing firms while the second is a small sample of groups localized in the Region of the Marches. They show that groups are widely present among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Starting from the premise that the group is the result of the expansion of activities controlled by the same entrepreneur, this paper reports a first attempt to discriminate among three alternative propositions regarding the causes of such growth and the reasons for the adoption of the group form: (1) as the result of the firm's growth policy; (2) as the result of entrepreneurial dynamics; and (3) as the result of the capital accumulation process on the part of the entrepreneur or his/her family. The empirical analysis on the whole favours the first hypothesis.

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  • Donato Iacobucci, 2002. "Explaining business groups started by habitual entrepreneurs in the Italian manufacturing sector," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 31-47, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:entreg:v:14:y:2002:i:1:p:31-47
    DOI: 10.1080/08985620110096636
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David J. Teece & Richard Rumelt & Giovanni Dosi & Sidney Winter, 2000. "Understanding Corporate Coherence: Theory and Evidence," Chapters, in: Innovation, Organization and Economic Dynamics, chapter 9, pages 264-293, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. David B. Audretsch, 1995. "Innovation and Industry Evolution," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011468, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Giulio Cainelli & Donato Iacobucci & Enrica Morganti, 2006. "Spatial agglomeration and business groups: New evidence from Italian industrial districts," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(5), pages 507-518.
    2. Enrico Guzzini & Donato Iacobucci, 2014. "Ownership as R&D incentive in business groups," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 119-135, June.
    3. Polina K. Kirilova, 2015. "Assessing the Creditworthiness of Patchwork Portfolio Entrepreneurs in Emerging Markets: an Investment Theory-Based Approach," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 1, pages 53-65, March.
    4. Donato Iacobucci & Peter Rosa, 2010. "The Growth of Business Groups by Habitual Entrepreneurs: The Role of Entrepreneurial Teams," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(2), pages 351-377, March.
    5. Cainelli, Giulio & Iacobucci, Donato, 2006. "The Role of Agglomeration and Technology in Shaping Firm Strategy and Organization," Knowledge, Technology, Human Capital Working Papers 12091, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    6. Enrico Guzzini & Donato Iacobucci, 2012. "Firm size and unrelated diversification. An empirical test on the ‘survivalist hypothesis’," Working Papers 1207, c.MET-05 - Centro Interuniversitario di Economia Applicata alle Politiche per L'industria, lo Sviluppo locale e l'Internazionalizzazione.
    7. Vivien Lefebvre, 2023. "Business group affiliation in resource-scarce locations," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 12(3), pages 121-140, September.
    8. Allan Discua Cruz & Carole Howorth & Eleanor Hamilton, 2013. "Intrafamily Entrepreneurship: The Formation and Membership of Family Entrepreneurial Teams," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(1), pages 17-46, January.
    9. Pablo Doucet & Ignacio Requejo & Isabel Suárez-González, 2024. "Business groups’ internal labour markets and SME labour productivity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 707-725, February.
    10. Christian Lechner & Christophe Leyronas, 2009. "Small–Business Group Formation as an Entrepreneurial Development Model," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(3), pages 645-667, May.
    11. Giulio Cainelli & Donato Iacobucci, 2006. "The Role of Agglomeration and Technology in Shaping Firm's Strategy and Organization," ERSA conference papers ersa06p286, European Regional Science Association.
    12. Christian Lechner & Florian Kirschenhofer & Michael Dowling, 2016. "The influence of social capital on opportunity emergence and exploitation: a comparison of portfolio and serial entrepreneurs," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-23, December.
    13. Rodgers, Waymond & Degbey, William Y. & Söderbom, Arne & Leijon, Svante, 2022. "Leveraging international R&D teams of portfolio entrepreneurs and management controllers to innovate: Implications of algorithmic decision-making," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 232-244.
    14. Eduardsen, Jonas & Marinova, Svetla Trifonova & González-Loureiro, Miguel & Vlačić, Božidar, 2022. "Business group affiliation and SMEs’ international sales intensity and diversification: A multi-country study," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5).
    15. Vivien Lefebvre, 2023. "Human resources slack and profitability: SMEs, large firms, and the role of business group affiliation," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(3), pages 611-637, September.

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