Designing effective policies for innovative start-ups: Lessons learned in Italy

Abstract

Supporting the implementation and growth of innovative start-ups to bring innovation to the market and foster local development, in terms of economic and social results, is on the agenda of policymakers worldwide. The latters constantly identify new specific tools, define more focused actions, and – in some cases – enact dedicated policies (local or national laws) in order to push individuals to start entrepreneurship processes.In this regard, the Italian Start-up Act is worth mentioning since it stands for the first-ever national law, enacted in 2012, promoting and regulating innovative start-ups. Ten years after the enactment of the Italian Start-up Act, it is interesting to assess its impact and evaluate whether and to what extent it succeeds in bringing innovations to the market and fosters local development in Italy. The results of several previous studies – which look at the same sample of start-ups, but from different perspectives – are collected and compared in order to offer a broad overview and a comprehensive evaluation of this law.