Andrea Vaona is currently Lecturer at the University of Verona and Part-time Researcher at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. He studied economics at the University of Trento, Italy, and at the University of Durham, United Kingdom. He took an MA at the University of Turin and a PhD in Economics at Birkbeck College, University of London. He was Research Fellow at the American University, Washington-DC. He worked in various positions for different universities and institutions in Europe: Birkbeck College, University College of London, University of Urbino, University of Trento, University of Verona, University of Pavia, University of Lugano and Ires Veneto. He has published, among others, in Economics Letters, Energy Policy, Small Business Economics, Industrial Relations, Empirical Economics, Journal of Geographical Systems, Regional Studies and Macroeconomic Dynamics. His main research interests are in Innovation Economics, Economic Growth, Regional Economics, Monetary Economics and Energy Economics.