R&S-Mediobanca and the "fourth" capitalism
March 2007

R&S and the Research Department of Mediobanca have for many years put a great deal of effort into analysing companies which form part of what is sometimes referred to as the "fourth capitalism", i.e. companies of intermediate size which are such a feature of the Italian economic system.

The attention devoted to these companies is well-documented in the publications issued both by R&S (especially its Annual Directory, each new edition of which usually includes profiles of new groups, of medium size, which have achieved significant critical mass in terms of capitalization and workforce) and the Mediobanca Research Department (Leading Italian Companies and Financial Aggregates for Italian Companies, both works which devote ample space to medium-size companies). Companies forming part of the fourth capitalism were also the focus of the research that led to development of the R&S-Unioncamere scoring model for small and medium-size companies.

In 2000 the Mediobanca Research Department entered into an agreement with the Research Department of Unioncamere to prepare an annual survey of the universe of industrial medium-size companies. The first edition was published in 2001, and statistics regarding earnings and financial data for such companies were compiled starting from 1996. This survey enabled significant material to be published from testimonies given by academics and businessmen participating in the various conferences organized to present the annual survey editions. A similar survey on European medium-sized companies is currently being launched in conjunction with Confindustria and Unioncamere.

In 2006 Mediobanca instituted a prize to be awarded to medium-size companies that stand out in terms of their high growth rates, profitability, governance arrangements, internal organization, innovation, and market leadership. Profiles of the successful companies are published on this site.

A co-operation began with the Fondazione Istud in 2009 to identify corporate development models and success strategies for the firms of the fourth capitalism.