The “compagnia di fratria” was a family partnerships, generally formed by brothers or cousins, which operated in Genoa in early modern period. Partners invested all their funds in the company and bore unlimited joint and several liability for an obligation taken on by anyone of them. In order to clarify partners mutual liability for one another’s debts, those companies had generally a formal structure, but, at the same time, as family relationship enforced trust between members, governance was normally based upon informal rules and procedures. Although the “fratria” may be considered archaic, if compared with other forms of part-nership, already well-known during the 17th century (such as general partnership, limited partnership or joint-stock company), several Genoese businessmen continued to adopt this kind of partnership because it guaranteed them a fair margin of profit. The case of Invrea brothers, examinated in this paper, allow us to observe that this was not casual, but a rational decision coming from a careful analisys of the socio-economic scenario in which they operated.

Famiglia e affari nella Genova del Seicento: il ruolo delle “compagnie di fratria”

ZANINI, ANDREA
2009-01-01

Abstract

The “compagnia di fratria” was a family partnerships, generally formed by brothers or cousins, which operated in Genoa in early modern period. Partners invested all their funds in the company and bore unlimited joint and several liability for an obligation taken on by anyone of them. In order to clarify partners mutual liability for one another’s debts, those companies had generally a formal structure, but, at the same time, as family relationship enforced trust between members, governance was normally based upon informal rules and procedures. Although the “fratria” may be considered archaic, if compared with other forms of part-nership, already well-known during the 17th century (such as general partnership, limited partnership or joint-stock company), several Genoese businessmen continued to adopt this kind of partnership because it guaranteed them a fair margin of profit. The case of Invrea brothers, examinated in this paper, allow us to observe that this was not casual, but a rational decision coming from a careful analisys of the socio-economic scenario in which they operated.
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11567/242214
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact