The Spanish economy entered a deep recession in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A strong government response has protected jobs and firms. However, the crisis has exacerbated long-standing structural challenges, such as high unemployment, inequalities and regional disparities.

This book addresses the fundamental changes that the Italian public utilities sector has undergone in the last two decades. Since the late 1990s, liberalisation and privatisation have replaced state-owned monopolies at both the national and local level, new technologies have created a broad range of new opportunities for power generation and distribution, and a redesigned public policy agenda has brought to the fore a whole set of new priorities. In this fast-changing environment, firms have redrawn their strategies, redesigned their business architectures and models, invested in infrastructure and R&D, taken advantage of growth opportunities at home and abroad, opened up their ownership structure, revised their offerings, and developed a new approach to customers. As a result, a radically altered market structure has emerged. As the sector tackles the overriding challenge of sustainability and energy transition, the book takes stock of such past and ongoing developments through the direct testimonies of various stakeholders: the companies in the energy, water, and waste management sectors that are at the forefront of this sweeping transformation; regulators; financial partners; and management consulting firms. The diversity of perspectives and wealth of information presented make this book a valuable resource for anyone wanting to grasp the direction, intensity and causes of change, as well as the nature of the challenges that lie ahead. This work has been prepared as part of the research activities of the Observatory on Alliances and Strategies in the Pan-European Utility Market, one of Agici’s Research and Advisory units.

This book provides a wide-ranging analysis of change in size and nature of Italian firms, and thus a unique and fascinating perspective on the evolution of one of the major industrial economies of the 20th century. An example of business history as it ought to be done. Giovanni Federico, European University Institute, Italy This book is necessary reading for a real understanding of the evolution of Italian capitalism during the last century. It moves away from a simplified view of the Italian industrial structure as just composed by small enterprises and successfully sheds light on the variety of different forms of enterprises the compose Italian system. The lively picture that emerges from this book is the one of richer types of enterprises, which have evolved over time and have contributed in different ways to Italian economic growth. Franco Malerba, Bocconi University, Italy Taking an historical perspective, this unique book highlights the evolution of the many diverse forms of business enterprise, and discusses the contribution of these different types of firm to the economic growth of Italy. One important issue that has recently captured the attention and the research efforts of both economists and economic historians has been the debate on varieties of capitalism in the modern world. In this context, the expert contributors analyze the various stages of Italian development that have been characterized by diverse dominating forms of enterprise which, in turn, have adapted to the nature of technological and market opportunities at the institutional, national and international level. This book proposes a new interpretation of the Italian case that utilizes both the structural and macroeconomic perspective of comparative history, as well as the microeconomic perspectives focusing on the strategies of different economic agents. Based on solid quantitative evidence, this original work will prove to be a valuable resource for academics and students of strategy and organization, economic historians and applied economists.