An unpredictable shock hit the Italian economy in February 2020 when the spread of the COVID-19 virus began in Italy and other countries worldwide. In this context, Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies can be a fundamental tool for economic recovery by favouring the shift towards sustainable manufacturing. Therefore, it is necessary to measure the readiness of countries for I4.0 in order to guide policies in defining incentives to promote I4.0 and unlock its potential in the pandemic era. In this context, the paper aims to understand the readiness and responsiveness of the Italian Regions with respect to I4.0 concepts prior to the pandemic and identify best practices that are supporting companies in I4.0 adoption, with a focus on those incentivizing sustainable practices. An assessment framework before the pandemic is provided based on two dimensions: the readiness of firms to invest in I4.0 and favourable structural conditions. The assessment shows a group of alert regions as opposed to a group of unprepared, mostly linked Northern and Southern differences. Assuming that the “alert regions” are more likely to effectively manage and overcome the post- COVID-19 crisis, we provide a picture of how the Italian Regions have sought to encourage the adoption of digital technologies to improve resilience after the shock. The analysis shows that supporting measures mainly address Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. Furthermore, the tenders encouraging the adoption of I4.0 suggest that collaboration among stakeholders will become imperative.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the present situation and recent evolution of entrepreneurship education in Italian universities and to discuss whether these courses and curricula match the demand for entrepreneurial competences.Design/methodology/approach: The empirical analysis is based on a census of entrepreneurship courses and curricula run by universities. The information collected through the internet refers to the academic years 2003‐2004 and 2009‐2010.Findings: Compared with the situation observed in the USA and in other European countries, entrepreneurship education in Italy is rather “underdeveloped”. Only a few universities have courses or specific curricula dedicated to entrepreneurship. The courses are concentrated within business faculties while very few exist in science and engineering faculties. The slow pace with which Italian universities are keeping up with the global trend in entrepreneurship education at university level seems in vivid contrast with the need for the Italian economy to change its industry structure from the so‐called “traditional” to “high‐tech” sectors. The paper discusses the reasons for this situation.Research limitations/implications: The paper does not evaluate the impact of entrepreneurship education. A suggestion for future research could be to analyze the role of these courses in encouraging entrepreneurial activity of students.Practical implications: Entrepreneurship education at university level can play an important role in the Italian economic system, fostering the creation of new business in knowledge‐intensive sectors.Social implications: The exploratory analysis of the state of entrepreneurship education in Italy suggests the need to develop these courses and spread the presence, especially in the science and engineering universities.Originality/value: The paper covers a lack of research on the attitude of higher education institutions towards entrepreneurship education in Italy.

Academic spin-offs are new companies that evolve out from universities as a result of the process of technology transfer from research to commercialisation of new products or services. This paper analyses the experience of Italian spin-offs, from their first introduction in 1999, with specific regard to the following aspects: the early growth, the governance structure and the entrepreneurial orientation. The empirical analysis refers to a sample of 160 spin-offs set up between 2000 and 2005. Quantitative analysis is based on annual reports after two, four and six years from set up. Quantitative data are supplemented with qualitative information collected from direct interview with owners and managers of spin-offs. The paper highlights the difficulties of most spin-offs in transforming the initial idea in a sustainable business. This is the result, among other things, of the lack of entrepreneurial orientation by the researchers promoting and managing the spin-offs.

Purpose: This paper aims to improve knowledge of individual heterogeneity in affecting the entrepreneurial attitude, taking socioeconomic drivers under control thanks to a cross-country analysis. The authors operate a “selection” of proxy for individual heterogeneity, mainly based on gender, demographical features, personal attitude and intrinsic motivation.Design/methodology/approach: This exploration is supported by an empirical analysis based on the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), for the period 2001-2012, and for a selection of 37 countries. It is expected that gender and further individual variables have an impact on the probability to become a nascent entrepreneur (e.g. age, level of education, self-confidence, social perception of self-employment as career choice). This paper evaluates the degree of consistency of these variables across very dissimilar countries.Findings: Gender and confidence on own skill play a significant and consistent effect on the entrepreneurial attitude, so these personal features are,per se, the driving-strength of entrepreneurial intent. Conversely, fear of failure and belief on the status are not always statistically significant, or not homogenous in their relationship: socioeconomic or country-specific characteristics are strong and sort out in an unpredictable relationship between these variables and the willingness to run new ventures.Research limitations/implications: A limited selection of individual features constrained by availability of information from the GEM data set.Practical implications: The motivation of this paper is to focus-back attention on intra-individual features that may affect entrepreneurship and to support evidence of whether individual heterogeneity is able to affect the entrepreneurial attitude, taking socioeconomic drivers under control.Social implications: An institutional and political commitment should be intensified to reduce the waste of opportunities that is associated with any forms of self-exclusion from entrepreneurship, such as those based on gender (being women) or (low) self-esteem.Originality/value: Due to the “individual” perspective, this paper adds to previous studies that exploited the GEM data set because they mostly follow an institutional conceptual framework.