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In sharp contrast to the nationalization schemes carried out in other countries, the inception of state intervention and ownership in the Italian industry in the early thirties was of an impromptu character. In effect, it was the outcome of the association of long-term industrial financing with normal banking activities, which, with the advent of the great depression, led to a financial impasse and subsequent state take-over of frozen assets. This status quo was reinforced in the late thirties by the government policy of economic autarky, control over essential raw materials and promotion of industries serving defense purposes. Postwar state acquisitions of rather limited extent have been dictated by economic and ideological considerations. The data analysis clearly shows that the alleged compatibility between majority and minority interests, the former interested basically in the fulfillment of public goals while the latter is interested in the profitability of the mixed undertaking, does not obtain in practice invariably. Compatibility of the two goals can be ensured only in the presence of the proper conditions, a minimum reward for the capital invested.

This article discusses various issues related to the concentration of joint-stock enterprise in Italy. In terms of absolute and relative proprietorship, joint-stock company enterprise appears to have increasingly important in the Italian economy since 1914. More significant is a marked concentration of corporate wealth. The trend toward concentration has been even more pronounced in the field of banking. It is to be noted, however, that political centralization of economic controls in recent years has come to overshadow the significance of authority resting on formal ownership. On levels other than corporate ownership-that is, on personal and bureaucratic levels-business controls appear to have been concentrated even further within the past fifteen years. Unfortunately, the paucity of data on national wealth and, furthermore, on the employment and production of corporate and non-corporate enterprises-makes it difficult to throw a direct and completely revealing light on the significance of joint-stock companies in the Italian economy. The available information, however indicates that large- scale corporate enterprise is by no means unimportant.