Baruffaldi Stefano Horst
Associate Professor
Baruffaldi Stefano Horst
Associate Professor
Stefano Baruffaldi is Associate Professor at the School of Management of the Polytechnic University of Milan and Senior Affiliated Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich. Previously, he was Assistant Professor (Lecturer) in Strategy and Organisation at the School of Management of the University of Bath and held a postdoctoral position at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich. He also worked as an Economist and Policy Analyst at the Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation of the OECD in Paris. He holds a PhD in Economics and Management of Innovation from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).
His research focuses on the economics of innovation, with particular attention to international researcher mobility, knowledge diffusion, and science–industry interactions. His work has been published in international journals such as Research Policy, Management Science, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Science Advances, Regional Studies, and Industry and Innovation.
In terms of teaching, he currently lectures in Business Economics and has experience teaching innovation economics, technology-based entrepreneurship, intellectual property, and applied econometrics.
Career
2022 – Present: Associate Professor, School of Management, Polytechnic University of Milan (Italy)
2019 – 2022: Assistant Professor (Lecturer), School of Management, University of Bath (UK)
2016 – 2019: Postdoctoral Researcher, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich (Germany)
2015 – 2016: Economist and Policy Analyst, OECD – Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, Paris (France)
2010 – 2015: PhD in Economics and Management of Innovation, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – EPFL (Switzerland)
2007 – 2010: MSc in Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
Research
Stefano Baruffaldi’s research focuses on the economics of innovation, with particular attention to researcher mobility, knowledge diffusion, and science–industry interactions. He has studied the impact of international mobility on scientific productivity, the effectiveness of mobility policies, and the role of academic networks in shaping training and career trajectories.
Other work has examined the strategic use of scientific publications by firms, corporate learning through scientific conferences, and the effects of physical capital losses in research laboratories. More recently, his research explores the impact of international mobility incentives and restrictions, the evaluation and research activity of AI-based startups, and the emergence of regional capabilities in AI innovation.
Selected Publications
Grants, awards and Honours
Community service