The course aims at providing students with a comprehensive understanding of key issues relating to the creation of new firms, the determinants of their performance, their impact on society, and the reasons and schemes for public support to entrpreneruship.

The course fits into the overall program curriculum pursuing some of the defined general learning goals. In particular, the course contributes to the development of the following capabilities:

• Understand context, functions, processes in a business and industrial environment and the impact of those factors on business performance

• Interact in a professional, responsible, effective and constructive way in a working environment, also motivating group members

• Develop awareness of the key determinants of new venture creation and performance and acquire knowledge necessary to make decisions concerning several crucial issues (entrepreneurial team creation, new venture organization, alliance formation and management, access to public financing, entry in an incubator) taking into account the specificities of the new venture
• Develop the ability to discuss a business case in a group and present to an audience the results of this discussion

o   Introduction on entrepreneurship 

o   Entrepreneurial entry 

• The entrepreneur-specific factors: demographic characteristics, psychological traits, and motivations 
• The context of entrepreneurship: technological, industry, institutional, and local determinants of entrepreneurship 

o   The performance of new ventures and the impact on society 

• Survival: the liability of newness and smallness  
• Innovation: the role of new firms in innovation systems 
• Growth: growth theories, effects of new ventures on economic growth

o   The determinants of new venture growth 

• The entrepreneurial team: formation and evolution  
• Access to resources: hiring vs. team enlargement, alliances, incubation 
• Public support to entrepreneurship 
• The organization of new ventures 

o   The heterogeneity of new ventures 

• Academic entrepreneurship 
• Family entrepreneurship 
• Entrepreneurship by minorities: female and ethnic entrepreneurship 

o   Wrap up and example of exam questions 

During the course 10 business cases will be discussed by (groups of) students. The key learning goal is to improve the understanding of the lectures, by applying theory to practical cases or to add new elements to the issues discussed during the lectures.

Attendance of the Business and industrial economics course

Grades will be assigned combining the evaluations of:

• a written (or oral) exam to test the knowledge acquired by students and the ability developed by students to use theory in practical cases (up to 24/33 points) 
• the student's group discussion of a business case (in class for students attending the lectures or after the end of the lectures for students not attending) and the group analysis of a business model (up to 9/33 points)

More details on the final exam will be provided during the first lecture and will be summarized in ppt slides that will be made available on the beep platform immediately after the first lecture.