The main areas of research of Massimo G. Colombo are the following:

• entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial finance: founders’ characteristics, start-ups’ organization, external financing (venture capital, crowdfunding, debt), entrepreneurial ventures’ post-entry performances, policy in support of high-growth entrepreneurial ventures;
• alliances, acquisitions and open innovation: alliance governance;
• implementation of high-tech acquisitions;
• the diffusion of advanced technologies and organizational innovations.

Colombo M.G.| Shafi K. (2021), "Receiving external equity following successfully crowdfunded technological projects: an informational mechanism", Small Business Economics, 56, 1507-1529

Colombo M.G.| Foss N.J.| Lyngsie J.| Rossi Lamastra C. (2021), "What drives the delegation of innovation decisions? The roles of firm innovation strategy and the nature of external knowledge", Research Policy, 50

Colombo M.G.| Piva E.| Quas A.| Rossi-Lamastra C. (2021), "Dynamic capabilities and high-tech entrepreneurial ventures’ performance in the aftermath of an environmental jolt", Long Range Planning, 54

Colombo M.G.| Piva E. (2020), "Start-ups launched by recent STEM university graduates: The impact of university education on entrepreneurial entry", Research Policy, 49

Rocco M.V.| Tonini F.| Fumagalli E.M.| Colombo E. (2020), "Electrification pathways for Tanzania: Implications for the economy and the environment", Journal of Cleaner Production, 263

• President of the Italian Association of Management Engineering (AiIG), 01/01/2017 - to date
• Deputy Director for Research and Rankings, School of Management, Politecnico di Milano, 01/01/2013 - to date
• Member of the PhD Board
• Member of the editorial Team/Board - CERN IdeaSquare Journal of Experimental Innovation
• Member of the editorial Team/Board - Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal
• Guest Editor of the Special Issue of the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal on “Organizational Design of Entrepreneurial Ventures”, with Diane Burton (Cornell University), Cristina Rossi-Lamastra (Politecnico di Milano), Noam Wasserman (Harvard Business School).
• Editor in Chief - Economia e Politica Industriale – Journal of Business and Industrial Economics
• Member of the Editorial Board, Entrepreneurship Research Journal
• Member of the Editorial Board, Journal of Technology Transfer.
• Member of the Editorial Board, Journal of Business Economics and Management
• Associate Editor of the Journal of Small Business Management
• Member of the Advisory Board of CRORA-Università Bocconi
• "Editor of special issue - European Management Review on “Organizing for external knowledge sourcing”, with Larissa Rabbiosi (Copenhagen Business School) and Toke Reichstein (Copenhagen Business School), published in vol. 8, issue 3"
• Editor of special issue - Industry and Innovation on “Organizing inter- and intra-firm networks: what is the impact on innovation performance?” with Keld Laursen (Copenhagen Business School), Mats Magnusson (KTE Stockholm), and Cristina Rossi-Lamastra (Politecnico di Milano), published in vol. 18, issue 6
• Guest Editor of the Special Issue of the Journal of Small Business Management on “Small business and networked innovation: organizational and managerial challenges”, with Keld Laursen (Copenhagen Business School), Mats Magnusson (KTE Stockholm), and Cristina Rossi-Lamastra (Politecnico di Milano), published in vol. 50, issue 2.
• Guest Editor of the Special Session of the Journal of Technology Transfer on “Going radical: producing and transferring disruptive innovation”, with Chiara Franzoni (Politecnico di Milano) and Reinhilde Veugelers (KU Leuven), published in vol. 40, issue 4.
• Guest Editor of the Special Issue of the Journal of Product Innovation Management on “Organizing for breakthrough innovation: taking inspiration from the organization of science”, with Cristina Rossi-Lamastra (Politecnico di Milano), Georg von Krogh (ETH Zurich), Paula Stephan (Georgia State University)
• Guest Editor of the Special Issue of the Small Business Economics on “New trends in entrepreneurial finance”, with Joern H. Block (University of Trier), Douglas J. Cumming (Schulich School of Business), and Silvio Vismara (University of Bergamo)
• Guest Editor of the Special Issue of the Small Business Economics on “The governance of entrepreneurial ecosystems”, with Giovanni Battista Dagnino (University of Catania), Erik Lehmann (Augsburg University), and Mari-Paz Salmador (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)
• Editor of a Special Issue on Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice. Digitization and the Market for Entrepreneurial Finance Co-Editors: Fabio Bertoni, Stefano Bonini, Vincenzo Capizzi, Massimo Colombo, Mike Wright, & Sophie Manigart.