Alessandro Nuvolari is Professor of Economic History at Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. His main research interests are the role of science, technology and human capital in the emergence and consolidation of "modern economic growth" (with a particular focus on the British industrial revolution and on Italian industrialization) and the relationship between intellectual property rights and economic performance both in historical and contemporary contexts. He has published extensively on these issues in leading journals of economic history and innovation studies.