Giovanni is a Professor of Economics and Vice-Rector of Teaching and Students’ Rights at LUMSA University. Between 1999 and 2012, he was the Chair of the Department of Economics and Vice-Rector for International Relations at the University of Bari. He previously served as Principal Financial Economist at the World Bank (1998-99) and Deputy-Director at the Research Department of Banca d’Italia (1984-1998). He has led (or consulted for) policy and research related projects in several countries. His research interests include: financial market imperfections and the transmission of monetary and financial shocks, banking structure, credit rating agencies, corporate governance, the finance-growth nexus, migration, company internationalization, sustainability. He has published extensively in these fields and he is associate editor of the journals Economic Notes, Rivista Bancaria-Minerva Bancaria, Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity. He is a founding member of the Think Tank at the European Association of Cooperative Banks; since 2013, he chairs the Center for Relationship Banking and Economics (CERBE) focusing on relational goods towards society’s well-being. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from New York University.