L’insegnamento delle discipline aziendali a Venezia dalla Scuola superiore di commercio all’Università Ca’ Foscari

This chapter provides an overview of the origins and development of business studies in the today Ca' Foscari University of Venice, which was established in 1868 as the first High School of Commerce in Italy. It focuses on the evolution of management and accounting teaching in connection with the transformation of the School into an University and with the parallel events the Italian economy and society underwent during a century and a half. The succession of scholars in charge of such courses was crucial in setting the pace of their evolution: as a consequence, the research focuses in large part on the reconstruction of their academic biography and scientific contribution, based on the abundant literature available on the history of accounting in Italy. From this standpoint, it is possible to understand how the transformation of Ca' Foscari from a business school into a modern university made possible to foster the specialization of management and accounting studies, whilst allowing the scientific development of other disciplines.