Mario Pianta is professor of Economic Policy and Economics of Innovation at the University of Urbino, Italy. He has been a visiting fellow at the European University Institute, the London School of Economics and the Université Sorbonne in Paris and a research fellow at Columbia University. He works on innovation, growth, employment and distribution. e mail: m.pianta@uniurb.it

Andrea Vaona studied Economics at the University of Trento, Italy, and at the University of Durham, United Kingdom. He took an MA and a Doctorate 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 institutions in Europe: Birkbeck College, University College of London, University of Urbino, University of Trento, University of Verona, University of Pavia and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. He is currently Assistant Professor at the University of Lugano (CH). He has published, among others, in Economics Letters, International Regional Science Review, Small Business Economics, Industrial Relations and Empirical Economics.