Professor in Economic Sociology at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Florence. He heads the European centre for local and regional development studies. He has taught at Harvard University and the Universities of Trento and Palermo. He has been editor and is currently a member of the editorial committee of the magazine "Stato e Mercato" and the editorial committee of "Sviluppo locale". He writes for the "Sole 24 ore". His areas of research include: local and area development in Italy, economic districts and the problems of innovative processes. He is the author of a manual of Sociologia economica (2 vol., Il Mulino 2002), published in various languages. His publications also include: La costruzione sociale dell’innovazione. Economia, società e territorio, Firenze University Press (2007) and Sviluppo locale. Un progetto per l’Italia, Laterza (2007).