Lelio Iapadre is Professor of Economics at University of L’Aquila (Department of Industrial and Information Engineering and Economics), where he is University Delegate for Strategic Planning and Local Development. He is also Associate Research Fellow at the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), Bruges, and Faculty Member in the PhD School in Economics and Finance, University of Rome ’Sapienza’ and in the LUISS Summer School on International Trade: Law and Economics, co-Financed by the European Commission Jean Monnet Module 2014. He is member of the Italian delegation to the OECD Committee on Industry, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Working Party for the Globalization of Industry) and to the OECD Trade Committee. He cooperates with the Italian Trade Agency, the Bank of Italy (L’Aquila branch), and the Centro Europa Ricerche (CER), Rome. He has taught at the University of Rome ’Sapienza’ and at the Johns Hopkins University, SAIS Bologna Center. He has done consultancy and research work for the Italian Minister of Foreign Trade, Istat, Svimez, the Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies and several international institutions, including the European Commission, the OECD, UNCTAD, UNIDO, and the World Bank Institute.