The New Frontiers of Entrepreneurship

Università Bocconi Main Theatre
26-28 September 2002

The Bocconi conference on The New Frontiers of Entrepreneurship will bring together people who actively promote the diffusion and improve our knowledge of entrepreneurial activity through their corporations or institutions. Economists, business historians and management scholars from pre-eminent Italian and foreign institutions of higher learning will present and discuss issues at the forefront of research in entrepreneurship. The final segment will offer the comments of a panel of members of the international political, financial and business communities on these same issues.

The conference is open to the participation of scholars, doctoral students, practitioners and policy-makers who share an interest in the field of entrepreneurship in enterprises of any size. Proceedings of the conference will include all the empirical works presented in the second, third and fourth sessions, as well as a transcript of the opening addresses and the panel discussion.

The conference will open with keynote speeches by two academicians coming from disciplines that form the traditional backbone of entrepreneurship studies: economics and business history. These renown scholars will set the framework for the conference, bringing their experiences and distinctive perspectives. The opening session will also be an occasion for a formal welcoming from the two institutions involved in the organisation of this conference: Bocconi University and the Academy of Management.

The following session will gather scholars who in recent years have contributed to some of the most significant advances in the field. Invited speakers represent a variety of perspectives and cover some of the cutting-edge issues in entrepreneurship research: how the institutional context can promote or hinder entrepreneurial activity, how technology is reshaping the conditions of entrepreneurial action, how financial systems and institutions can selectively -- and effectively-- support entrepreneurial ventures, and which cognitive processes underlie opportunity recognition.

The third session will host presentations of the latest findings from five research teams at Bocconi. Faculty and students at the university were invited to submit papers for presentation at the conference. Their contributions will represent various disciplines, addressing different issues through the use of a wide variety of methods. The papers were selected by an international review board, on the basis of the relevance of their themes and the rigor of their methodology.

In the fourth session, speakers of different backgrounds will discuss the recent evolution of entrepreneurial activity in broad geographical areas. Their presentations will discuss how history, culture and institutions affect the shape of entrepreneurial action across continents. They will highlight the unique features of entrepreneurship in each area, and present examples of institutional structures and practices which facilitate and nurture entrepreneurial growth.

In the final session, a panel of practitioners will discuss themes emerging from the previous sessions. The panel will include a balanced mix of representatives of public institutions and private organisations (corporations, venture capitalists, angel financiers, etc.) who are directly or indirectly involved in facilitating entrepreneurial growth. Panel members will be asked to comment and compare research findings in light of their practical experience. This session is aimed at bridging the gap between theory and practice, helping both sides to build on each others perspectives.

PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION FORM (pdf file)

PAPERS AND SLIDES (pdf files)

ACADEMIC CONTACT PERSON:

Prof. Davide Ravasi, Istituto di Strategia ed Economia Aziendale
e-mail: divide.ravasi@unibocconi.it