STATE OF THE ART AND AN INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

At the beginning of the new century, Italian business history is in good shape; it represents one of the most lively branches of economic history. At least four important centers for study and research are active; teaching and research in business history is commonplace in universities and their doctoral programs; and corporations as well as financial institutions have opened their archives and sponsored research projects and publications that go well beyond simple commemoration.

Of the four research centers, the Italian Center of Research and Information on the Economy of State-owned Enterprises (CIRIEC) was started in 1956 and since the 1970s has promoted a series of projects and publications on the history of the managers and entrepreneurs of state-owned enterprises. The Center for the Historical and Economic Documentation on Enterprise also focuses primarily on the history of state-owned enterprises. It was started in 1982 on the initiative of the historian Valerio Castronovo and has published a business history series since 1987. Another, the Center for the History of Enterprise and Innovation, which is promoted by the Chamber of Commerce in Milan, has the ambitious goal of becoming a large territorial archive.

Probably the most relevant role of business history in Italy has been played by the Association for the History and Study of Enterprise (ASSI), which was founded in 1983. ASSI is active in four fields: seminars and colloquia, publications, teaching, and research.