Why Italy Needs an Entrepreneurial Renaissance after COVID-19

Abstract

New firms play a critical role in the economy. They disrupt markets with new technologies, offer social mobility opportunities, and support labor market dynamism. As much as any society should nurture and help its new generations to prosper and grow, its economy will be significantly disadvantaged without the contribution of new firms. Not surprisingly, therefore, the consequences that the COVID-19 pandemic might have on new firms’ creation and growth are a critical area of attention. In this chapter, we navigate this complex landscape using entrepreneurship as our compass to sketch Italy’s strengths and weaknesses and reflect on how they could be affected by the disruptions that the whole world is now facing.