Rodolfo Debenedetti Chair in Entrepreneurship
Previous Chair Holders Fabiano Schivardi and Nicolaj J.Foss
Fabiano Schivardi is Full professor of economics at LUISS University, member of the founding group of EIEF and a research fellow at IGIER, EIEF and CEPR. His main areas of interest are industry dynamics, productivity and entrepreneurship. He obtained his B.A. from Bocconi in 1992 and his PhD in Economics from Stanford in 1998. Before moving to academia as Full Professor at LUISS University in Rome, he worked at the research department of the Bank of Italy until 2006. Schivardi has consulted the Italian Government on issues related to industrial policy: in 2013 he co-chaired (with Guido Tabellini) the Bocconi EIEF Growth Commission on revitalizing long-term growth in Italy and in 2012 he contributed as co-author to the Report to the Prime Minister on the reform of the firm subsidies system (“Rapporto Giavazzi”). From 2014-2016, Prof. Schivardi was the Rodolfo Debenedetti Chaired Professor of Entrepreneurship at Bocconi University.
Nicolai J. Foss is a Professor of Strategy at the Department of Strategy and Innovation, CBS, Honorary Adjunct Professor, Department of Marketing & Management, Southern Denmark University, and External Chair, Danish Institute for Advanced Studies, 2020-2025. He is a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog.Trained as an economist at the Copenhagen University (M.Sc.,1989), Foss his received his PhD degree from the Copenhagen Business School in 1993, where he was Assistant, Associate and Full Professor. From 2016-2019 he was the Rodolfo Debenedetti Chaired Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Bocconi University, Milano. He has held part-time and visiting professorships at Norwegian School of Economics, Lund University, Luiss Guido Carli-Roma, ERC Rennes, and Agder University.
Joint Purpose
The main goal of the Rodolfo Debenedetti Chair in Entrepreneurship is to analyse the environments where entrepreneurs can easily emerge to encourage the creation of firms, in order to favour their growth and their success. In 2011 Carlo De Benedetti created this academic position through a philanthropic gift, naming the endowed Chair after his father, Rodolfo Debenedetti, to honor his memory as an individual and an entrepreneur. After an international academic search, Professor Fabiano Schivardi was appointed as the first chair holder in 2014. Then, Professor Nicolaj J. Foss became the new Chair holder in 2016.
Research
The research was inspired by the idea that Entrepreneurship is key to economic growth and investing in the value-based education of the next generation of business leaders is essential to our future. In particular, the research is based on the factors which affect entrepreneurship and drive economic development. Moreover, the main activities focus on the determinants of entrepreneurial supply and, to be more specific, on the process of acquiring entrepreneurial skills. Starting from a general perspective, this research shows that today’s entrepreneurs need access to high-quality education and to a well-developed equity finance industry to face the challenges of globalization. The most relevant outcomes of the research are to be found in the analysis of the conditions of entrepreneurship in established companies and in the dynamics, which drive entrepreneurship in the economy at large.
Dissemination
The activity of the Chair was integrated with the dissemination of the research outcomes carried out by of Prof. Schivardi (2014-2016) and Prof. Foss (2016-2019). Among several seminars and conferences organized by the most prestigious academic and institutional realities, two Lectio Inauguralis were held to offer a debate about the key-topic of the Chair: Entrepreneurship. The first Lectio Inauguralis took place on the 23rd September 2014 whereas the second one was on the 16th October 2017. Both Lectio were held at Bocconi University.