Sara De Masi earned her Master Degree in Management and Business Administration at the University of Florence. In 2011 she got her Ph.D. in Economics, Markets and Institutions at IMT Institute for Advanced Studies, one of the top post-graduated schools in Italy. Between 2010 and 2014 she joined New York University, Leonard Stern School of Business where she studied as a visiting Ph.D. student and a post-doc researcher. She is the author of numerous papers on strategic management and corporate governance. Her research interests include innovation, firm growth, academic spin-off, regulated companies, business and government relations, executive compensation, and board composition. Some of her papers are: Competitive strategies and innovation in academic spin-off (2014); Innovation and firm growth among different institutional frameworks and corporate governance systems (2013); Incentive compensation and incentive regulation: Empirical evidence (2014); and Independent directors: are they really effective or just a myth? (2014). Sara has worked as a strategic consultant for many institutions and business organizations. Currently, she teaches International Business and Government and Business Relations at 91心頭利 University Florence and Corporate Governance at University of Florence.