Thetheory was put tothetest in 1901 by MarioLazzarini, a mathematicianwho dropped 3408 needles to get a valueof 3.1415929…, correcttothe first sixdecimal places.
Interestingly, in further research in Brazil, Musacchio and Lazzarini found that companies that received direct government investment, as opposed to subsidized loans, tended to have better performance overall, a phenomenon they attribute to increased accountability and oversight.