Salvatore Capasso is the director of the Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean of the National Research Council and is full professor of Economics at the University of Naples Parthenope.

He has published a large number of peer-reviewed papers in reputed international journals and has been invited to a number of institutional and academic conferences. His latest research focuses on the relationship between crime, corruption and growth and on the role of the underground economy in economic development. He boasts the scientific responsibility and coordination of numerous national and international research projects.

He is currently on the Board of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples and of the Italian Network for Euro-Mediterranean Dialogue RIDE-APS.