is Professor of Economics in the School of Finance and Management at SOAS, University of London, and at Università di Roma Tor Vergata. He is the Academic Director of the Centre for Financial and Management Studies at SOAS. He previously taught at the University of Bristol and at University College London. 
He received a Laurea in Scienze Statistiche ed Economiche from Università di Roma La Sapienza, and an MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics and a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has been a consultant for the Asian Development Bank, NCCR – Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research on Trade Regulation, UN – Food and Agricultural Organization, and the World Bank. His recent research interests are on financial economics, development economics and applied econometrics.