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Francesco Merloni Chair in Entrepreneurship

Andrea Fosfuri is Full Professor of Innovation in the Department of Management and Technology at Bocconi University and at SDA Bocconi School of Management.

He has served as Dean of the PhD School since November 2019. Previously, from 1998 to 2012, he was a faculty member in the Department of Business Administration at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, where he also served as Department Chair from 2009 to 2011. He has taught at Boston University and Carnegie Mellon University and was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). He is an Associate Editor of Management Science and a member of the Editorial Board of the Strategic Management Journal.

His recent publications explore corporate social responsibility in multinational companies and the role of venture capital in supporting the growth of innovative and sustainable firms.

Andrea holds a PhD in Economics from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona and a degree in Economics and Business from the University of Urbino.

Fosfuri Andrea

 

Joint Purpose

The partnership between Fondazione Aristide Merloni and Bocconi University led to the establishment, in 2026, of the Francesco Merloni Chair in Entrepreneurship, an endowed chair held by Andrea Fosfuri, Full Professor in the Department of Management and Technology at Bocconi University and Dean of the PhD School.

Named in memory of Francesco Merloni - entrepreneur and long-standing Honorary Chairman of Ariston Group - the Chair aims to advance the study of entrepreneurship in technological and innovative contexts by integrating theoretical advances, methodological innovation and data development.

 

Core Activities

Research

The Chair’s research activities focus on the following areas:

  • entrepreneurship, with particular attention to the processes involved in launching, developing and scaling new ventures in technological and innovative contexts;
  • the development of empirical approaches to identify and study innovative ventures on a large scale. In particular, robust measures will be developed to analyse their distinctive characteristics and examine how uncertainty surrounding market applications and strategic positioning evolves over time;
  • the development of the data infrastructure required to support the systematic study of entrepreneurship in Italy and Europe, with a specific focus on technological and innovative contexts. This work will include assessing available sources, establishing the methodological foundations for a new dataset, and mapping the organisational resources required to ensure its ongoing development and updating.

Communication and Dissemination

The Chair promotes an entrepreneurial culture among younger generations through the development of courses and teaching materials, as well as participation in events, workshops and conferences aimed at disseminating research findings and fostering entrepreneurship.