Giorgia Giovannetti is Professor of Economics at the University of Florence and part time Professor at the European University Institute, where she has acted as Project Director of the European Report on Development in 2009 and 2010. She holds a PhD and an MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge – UK, as well as a “laurea cum laude” in Statistics and Economics from the University of Roma-la Sapienza. She has directed the Research Centre of the Italian Trade Institute (2005-2007) and has been advising its President for the past 5 years. She has also been an advisor for the Italian Treasury and the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Her research interests include development economics, international trade, macroeconomics and political economy. She has published extensively in academic journals (European Economic Review, Review of Economic Dynamics, Review of Financial Development, Applied Economics etc) and books.