Marco Belfanti | Brescia University (original) (raw)

Books by Marco Belfanti

Papers by Marco Belfanti

Routledge eBooks, Oct 12, 2023

History and Technology, 2000

Although the Early Modern Age. was a period in which radical innovations were not particularly nu... more Although the Early Modern Age. was a period in which radical innovations were not particularly numerous, it was nonetheless marked by an increasingly widespread awareness of the central role of technical progress in economic growth. This is witnessed to by the increasing frequency with which treatises on technical subjects were published and, above all, by the adoption in many European states of laws and regulations intended to reward and protect innovations. Such awareness matured through different paths in the different European contexts, in accordance with these same laws and regulations, which were both cultural and economic, and which conditioned the spread of technical change. It was in fact a scenario in which a plurality of actors operated with faculties and prerogatives that could vary considerably according to geographical location and time: amongst these figures there were the authors of the treatises and their patrons, the guilds that ensured the handing down of knowledge from one generation to another, and the craftsmen who emigrated from one country to another, thus transferring their knowledge and skills, as well as the states that rewarded those who introduced new production processes or products, granting in the respective cases, brevets, privileges, monopolies or patents. The interaction of these figures and institutions created a series of more.

Journal of Institutional Economics, Oct 13, 2006

This paper aims at offering a reconstruction of the salient features of the most important formal... more This paper aims at offering a reconstruction of the salient features of the most important formal institution introduced by European states in the Early Modern Period with the aim of recognizing and protecting the intellectual property of the inventors. Such institutions went under different names-'Privilegio' in Venice, 'Patent' in England, 'Privilège' in France, 'Cedula de privilegio de invençion' in Spain-and, in general, took the form of the concession of a special prerogative to the inventor by the sovereign or the republic, by virtue of which he could exploit, in economic terms, his own invention through holding a monopoly. The article starts with the origins of the privileges for invention, of which the first examples are to be found in the Middle Ages, but whose official 'genesis' is commonly identified with the Venetian law of 1474. The fundamental characteristics of the Venetian system, which was later imitated by other European states, are analysed. In the following section, the adoption of this model by those other states-Spain, France, England, and the Netherlands-is illustrated. In fact, the majority of these would make legislation on intellectual property an instrument of mercantilist policy, under the same conditions as prevailed in Venice. Further, we will examine some of the opportunities that the diffusion of these measures offered to those involved and the way in which theyas craftsmen, merchants, and speculators-took advantage of the business of privileges. Finally, before concluding, some thoughts on the changes made in the policy of privileges given the transformations that took place in the course of the eighteenth century, in order to understand the 'adaptive' capacity of these institutions.

Technology and Culture, 2008

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Apr 12, 2001

Routledge eBooks, Dec 24, 2021

This article aims to analyse the practices of branding adopted in the European pre-modern economy... more This article aims to analyse the practices of branding adopted in the European pre-modern economy in order to communicate information about the product to the consumer. It examines the nature and function of master's marks and collective marks and their interaction with processes of imitation and counterfeiting, and takes a stance in the debate on the origins of the modern brand, arguing in favour of the thesis that early forms of brand may be found only in the economic context of the eighteenth century and not before.

Routledge eBooks, Jan 23, 2023

Fashion was arguably a social phenomenon that emerged in Europe during early modern times, and th... more Fashion was arguably a social phenomenon that emerged in Europe during early modern times, and this paper seeks to determine whether it was unknown in the refined civilizations of the East. The conclusion is that fashion was not a European invention. The analysis of the evolution of Indian, Chinese, and Japanese clothing systems underlines how these societies underwent phases in which, thanks to propitious economic conditions, the accentuated propensity towards consumption stimulated behaviour that challenged the traditional hierarchies of appearance, usually regulated by canons of a prescriptive nature. Fashion was not, therefore, a European invention, but it only fully developed as a social institution in Europe, while in India, China, and Japan it only evolved partially, without being able to obtain full social recognition

L'autonomia universitari alla luce dei provvedimenti d'emergenz

Il commercio al minuto : domanda e offerta tra economia formale e informale : secc. XIII-XVIII, 2015

* via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not * responsible for the quality of... more * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not * responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original.