Diaspore mercantili e regia Azienda nella Sardegna Sabauda: commercio e imprese dal passaggio dell'isola ai Savoia (1720) alle riforme degli anni Venti dell'Ottocento

This thesis investigates the economic, trade and state concessions in 1700 Sardinia. In the first part of the thesis, the establishment of commercial networks in the territory was studied. It was observed how mainland traders created commercial networks in the early eighteenth century, by establishing themselves in key locations in the territory to link mainland markets to those in coastal and inland Sardinia. Over time this commercial diaspora promoted the emergence of local entrepreneurs managing small businesses. These local entrepreneurs managed the distribution of commercial products from the mainland traders as well as the provision of local products to the traders who maintained contact with mainland trade networks. In the second part of the thesis, the dynamics of state concessions were studied. It was observed how the system moved from concessions to foreign businessmen that controlled key segments of the Sardinian economy, such as salt and mining, to a centralized system accompanied by the development of a state bureaucracy that progressively took over direct management of key industries.