Italy

choi

Stacy Meichtry and Deborah Ball, Culture Built on Family Firms Tests Italy's Plan for Growth. Wall Street Journal, Nov 14, 2011.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 10102084351834.html

Quote:

"The presence of tiny companies is a leitmotif across the ailing economies of southern Europe. Firms with fewer than twenty workers employ roughly 60% of the work force in Italy and Greece and about half the work force in Spain and Portugal, compared to 30% in Germany and 20% in the US, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

"To be sure, many of Italy's most successful businesses--such as the Giorgio Armani fashion empire, or the publicly traded Luxottica Group SpA eyewear maker--began as family businesses or remainunder family control. Family entrepreneurs cite the advantage of being able to build businesses free from the short-term pressures of stock markets and shareholders.

Italy's "younger workers have borne the brunt of the recent downturn: youth unemployment now stands at 29%.

(b)
My Comment:
(a) leitmotif (n; German Leitmotiv, from leiten to lead + Motiv motive): "a dominant recurring theme"
www.m-w.com
(b) Luxottica
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica
(the world's largest eyewear company.[2] Its best known brands include Ray-Ban, Persol and Oakley, Inc; Leonardo Del Vecchio started the company in 1961; today the company is headquartered in Milan)
(c) An multi-theme illustration accompanies the text, which incorporates pie charts for each nation:

"Percentage of businesses with 50 or fewer employees*
Italy 68.7%
Germany 40.7%
US 34.1%
UK 38.9%

* In 2007, the latest data available"

(d) Understandably I wholeheartedly root for small-and medium-businesses, which Taiwanese view as the secret sauce of their miracle. I am sure South Koreans beg to differ.