Papers by Cinzia Lorandini
Vite di tabacco, vol. 2: Tre secoli di coltivazione e cura in Trentino: Settecento-Novecento, 2023
Il saggio delinea tempi e modalità di diffusione del consumo e della coltivazione del tabacco in ... more Il saggio delinea tempi e modalità di diffusione del consumo e della coltivazione del tabacco in Europa in seguito alla scoperta del Nuovo Mondo e gli interventi adottati dalle autorità per controllarne la produzione e il commercio attraverso il ricorso alla privativa. Si sofferma quindi sulle manifestazioni che l'"economia del vizio" assunse tra Sei e Settecento nell'area trentino-tirolese mettendo a fuoco le strategie dei mercanti-imprenditori che si resero protagonisti del settore approfittando del clima di relativa libertà di cui il comparto godeva nel principato vescovile di Trento. Segue un'analisi delle difficoltà che segnarono il comparto dopo l'annessione al Regno Italico, per poi giungere, dopo un temporaneo ripristino della libertà dei traffici nel contesto della Provincia tirolese, all'avvento definitivo nel 1828 della privativa statale.
The literature on early modern credit markets emphasizes both the social embeddedness of credit r... more The literature on early modern credit markets emphasizes both the social embeddedness of credit relationships and the role of notaries. To enhance our understanding of how credit markets functioned in a “less-developed” economy, we investigate the local lending activities of a merchant-banker family that operated at the intersection of formal and informal credit. A combination of economic rationality and social motivations in lending decisions emerges. The credit network of this family firm provides a portrait of the social structure of the local community, where the central position of a few trusted notaries and members of the business and political elite highlights the prevalence of relationships of power and favor over impersonal market exchange. The predominance of informal credit reveals a preference for loans made outside of notarial circuits. Nonetheless, notaries were crucial in lending to borrowers of lower social status and with weak ties, thus helping the liquidity of the...
Rivista della Corte dei Conti, 2021
Nel contributo si analizza il sistema di tenuta dei conti di una famiglia di mercanti-imprenditor... more Nel contributo si analizza il sistema di tenuta dei conti di una famiglia di mercanti-imprenditori attivi a Trento a cavallo tra età moderna e contemporanea. Attraverso l’esame dei registri settecenteschi si mettono a fuoco le diverse funzioni della contabilità aziendale in antico regime ponendole in relazione con la natura e le strategie dell’impresa e dunque con il suo particolare fabbisogno informativo. Inoltre, la ricostruzione del contesto e delle modalità di passaggio, a inizio Ottocento, da un sistema di tenuta dei conti più tradizionale, basato sulla partita semplice, alla contabilità in partita doppia, fornisce alcuni spunti di riflessione sui prerequisiti e sulle motivazioni sottese a questa transizione contabile.
Studi Trentini. Storia, 2019
Geschichte und Region/Storia e regione, 2019
Financing in Europe, 2018
This essay investigates the role of limited partnerships (accomandite) in the financing of early ... more This essay investigates the role of limited partnerships (accomandite) in the financing of early modern trade by focusing on the case of silk firms in eighteenth-century Trentino. Although limited partnerships were not governed by specific regulation, nor qualified as ‘accomandite’ in private and public documents, direct evidence from few partnership agreements combined with indirect evidence from the oblatorie (circular letters) filed with the Merchant Court in Bolzano, support the contention that limited partnerships played an important role in mobilizing capital to finance a rapidly-expanding trade. This study thus confirms that limited partnerships facilitated investment by affluent individuals, particularly patricians, who benefitted as limited partners from the opportunity to constrain their risk within the limits of their stake.
Studi Trentini. Storia, 2016
Denzel, M.A., Bonoldi, A., Montenach, A., Vannotti, F. (a cura di), Oeconomia Alpium I: Wirtschaftsgeschichte des Alpenraums in vorindustrieller Zeit. Forschungsaufriss, -konzepte und - perspektiven, Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg,, 2017
In the last decades, a large literature has investigated the history of commerce in the Alpine sp... more In the last decades, a large literature has investigated the history of commerce in the Alpine space, thus providing substantial information on the nature and direction of commercial flows from, towards and across the Alps. By combining evidence from a few general studies over the Alpine trade in the medieval and early modern periods, and a large amount of research on specific areas or passes, we can try to offer a synthetic view of this phenomenon. After providing a brief state of the art, this essay attempts to develop an analytical approach to investigating the Alpine trade during the pre-industrial age by highlighting its structural and functional aspects. To this end, the research will focus on the commercial relationships between the Alpine space and the pre-Alpine areas as well as the more distant regions, by exploring two major issues. First, the size of trade flows and their variations across time and space; second, the composition of flows, namely the types of goods, their origins and destination and the transport routes. The proposal is to distinguish three different types of flows: the inflow of goods, particularly cereals, necessary to meet the needs of the Alpine population; the outflow of products deriving from the exploitation of the resources of the Alps; and the transit trade generated by the interplay between demand and supply outside of the Alps. A first application to the Tyrolean case raises some key points and highlights some relevant factors, such as the demographic trend, and the location of the land at different altitudes, with the ensuing consequences on the types of crops and availability of resources typical of the mountains (timber, mineral ores). Moreover, the analysis must take account of the role of the urban centers at the foot of the Alps as receivers of raw materials and providers of manufacturing goods. With regard to the transit trade, particularly important are the complementarities and specializations between different regions outside of the Alps, and the differences between the Alpine passes in terms of accessibility, and of availability of material and immaterial infrastructures that contributed to reducing transportation and transaction costs. Finally, special attention must be also devoted to the impact of trade on a multitude of economic actors (merchants, shipping houses, carriers, etc.) who earned their income, or part of it, from the Alpine commerce.
Business History, 2015
The Buddenbrooks syndrome is evoked by business historians to explain the inability of family fir... more The Buddenbrooks syndrome is evoked by business historians to explain the inability of family firms to survive beyond the third generation. Although this argument highlights a major problem – that of ensuring smooth intergenerational succession – this article’s contention is that a more complex interpretative framework is needed in order to explain the longevity of some family businesses. By drawing on evidence
concerning a family firm which survived for more than two centuries, this article highlights three interrelated factors of longevity: the strategic response to internal drivers and environmental changes; the transmission of skills and values to the following generations; and the successful intergenerational transfer of family assets. All these factors were based on a flexible definition of both the ‘family’ and the ‘business’ which ensured the combination of continuity and change that was necessary for the family firm’s long-term survival.
This paper analyzes entrepreneurial behavior in the Ancient Regime and examines a particularly lo... more This paper analyzes entrepreneurial behavior in the Ancient Regime and examines a particularly long-lived family business, the i?½Valentino e Isidoro Salvadorii?½ firm, which operated in Trento for more than two centuries. The firm survived several generational transitions, it was engaged in many activities and partnerships, and it entered into an extensive network of Italian and Central-European operators. The Salvadori started as local shopkeepers and became merchant-entrepreneurs of international renown, involved at the same time in manufacturing, commercial, and financial activities, thus providing extensive material for a case study. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategies and the factors influencing the Salvadorii?½s entrepreneurial behavior in the seventeenth- and eighteenth centuries, taking into account the broader socio-economic, institutional, and cultural framework. After a long-period overview of the strategies adopted by the family, who started manag...
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Papers by Cinzia Lorandini
concerning a family firm which survived for more than two centuries, this article highlights three interrelated factors of longevity: the strategic response to internal drivers and environmental changes; the transmission of skills and values to the following generations; and the successful intergenerational transfer of family assets. All these factors were based on a flexible definition of both the ‘family’ and the ‘business’ which ensured the combination of continuity and change that was necessary for the family firm’s long-term survival.
Books by Cinzia Lorandini
concerning a family firm which survived for more than two centuries, this article highlights three interrelated factors of longevity: the strategic response to internal drivers and environmental changes; the transmission of skills and values to the following generations; and the successful intergenerational transfer of family assets. All these factors were based on a flexible definition of both the ‘family’ and the ‘business’ which ensured the combination of continuity and change that was necessary for the family firm’s long-term survival.