ABSTRACT
M onths ago, when I accepted the com m itm ent to deliver the present paper, I did not underestim ate the task. But, the fact tha t in the past I had at least partially studied the subject and also discussed it w ith one o f my old teachers, the late Professor Ugo C aprara, who was and is reputed to be one o f the m ost creative founding fathers o f m odern business econom ics in Italy ', m ade me confident tha t I w ould not have to venture on a perilous journey with the aim of discovering a new land or at least a new itinerary. H aving my feet on already fam iliar territory , all I w ould have to do w ould be to revisit well known places, w ith the benefit o f the hind-sight: the rem oval o f the superfluous and the consolidation o f essentials.
