Introduction

This essay examines entrepreneurial typologies in Greece, a latecomer economy, between national independence in 1830 and 1909, a landmark year regarding state formation and the empowerment of the bourgeoisie. The analysis is based on the collective body of Société Anonymes founding charters and, following Foreman-Peck, the formation of new companies is perceived as an outcome of entrepreneurial initiatives. This methodological approach offers a unique opportunity to conceptualize the general contours of entrepreneurship in Greece because until now no equivalent database has existed for other types of business start-ups.

The core questions addressed in this essay are: who were the protagonists, the builders of the Société Anonymes? Are theoretical typologies appropriate for ‘classifying’ entrepreneurial action? Was there economic agency in the nascent ‘corporate’ sector? Was incorporation cut off from traditional forms of business organization? The analysis opens with a very brief survey of Greek economy and enterprise during the period under review. Emphasis is laid on the coexistence, during this time of deep transition, of imported institutions and the legacies of the pre-independence past. Awareness of this duality is a necessary starting point for the historical exploration of entrepreneurial typologies.

Economy and Enterprise

When Greece won independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830, it was an economically devastated land striving to catch up with the West.