Certified Benefit Corporations as a new way to make sustainable business: The Italian example

A Benefit Corporation is one possible alternative to traditional business models and a new way of managing business and sustainability. Emphasis on B-Corporations in Italy dates back 2006, and 1 year later, B LAB certified the first Benefit Corporation Industry using the first version of the Benefit Impact Assessment process. Since then, the number of B-Corporations has been growing, showing the success of the initiative of this category of firm that have voluntarily decided to pursue, like the profit, a further purpose: to obtain in the exercise of economic activity a positive impact on society and on the planet. After a presentation of the Benefit Corporation features, the main aim of this paper is to explore the relations that exists between the five different impact areas considered in certification awarded to Certified Benefit Corporation and the net profit value, using ordinary least squares regression model based on the entire sample of the Italian Certified enterprises.