Benefit companies in Italy: development perspectives and evaluation standards

Benefit Corporation could be one of the possible reactions to having a new model of capitalism and business management because there is a combination of economic activities with the common satisfaction of social needs. In 2016, the Italian legal system introduces the case of the Benefit Company. Italy becomes the first state to acquire a discipline in this area of for-benefit companies, the analysis of the discipline configures the Benefit Companies as a context solution that mutates, as far as possible, the discipline of Benefit Corporation. The Italian Benefit Society is seen as a revolutionary step forward, in a traditionally static and sometimes obsolete context and the new law has generated a strong interest and enthusiasm and many companies have already decided to become a Benefit Company. The following paper is intended to illustrate the process that led to the birth of the B Corp movement and its first evolution in the United States with the legal legitimacy of the Benefit Corporation and then in Italy with the discipline of the Benefit Company. The objective is to verify the responses of the Italian context to the new legislation on Benefit Company, with particular reference to three aspects: 1. If the Benefit Company will be able to become an appropriate vehicle for entrepreneurs who want to operate in a sustainable way; 2. If the Benefit Company will be able to represent an interesting business model for those long-term investors looking for companies able to simultaneously generate economic and social benefits; 3. If the Italian experience will be able to produce a "domino effect" among other EU Member States that facilitate the dissemination of the "B" approach and, consequently, promote the establishment of companies with a strong positive impact measured with standard verifiable on social and environmental performance.