Collective enterprise

Individual and collective enterprise.

In the Italian legal system, the enterprise can take the dual form of individual enterprise or collective enterprise.

The individual enterprise is that headed by a single person; the collective enterprise is instead exercised by an organized group of people. While in individual enterprise the notion of entrepreneur (Art. 2047 of the Civil Code) corresponds to a single individual, when the enterprise is exercised collectively the entrepreneur corresponds instead to a collective entity.

The forms of collective enterprise.

The typical legal forms of collective enterprise are those of the company, in the various types governed by Book V, Titles V and VI of the Civil Code. However, although they are the most frequent, they are not the exclusive forms.

According to Article 2247 of the Civil Code, with the company contract 'two or more persons confer goods or services for the joint exercise of an economic activity with a view to sharing the profits'. Thus, only the collective enterprise exercised for the purpose of sharing profits, i.e. for profit (subjective profit), qualifies as a company.

However, the enterprise may also be collectively exercised to produce a profit (objective profit) that is not, however, distributed among the parties. In this case, the enterprise is functional to produce the financial resources necessary to carry out a further activity, aimed at realizing an ideal purpose of the group. This represents a form of collective exercise of economic activity that differs from companies, carried out not for the purpose of profit but for cultural, recreational, charitable or otherwise ideal purposes. Associations and foundations realize forms of non-corporate collective enterprise insofar as they carry out business activities. On the requirements of enterprise activity under Italian law see: Entrepreneur (under Italian Law).

References.

F. Galgano, Diritto commerciale. Le società, 18° ed., Zanichelli, Bologna, 2013, p. 3 ss.;

G. Meruzzi, Complemento di diritto commerciale, 1, Impresa, società in generale e società di persone, 2° ed., Egea, Milano, 2019, p. 144 ss.