He holds a Master's degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Ph.D. from the University of Sao Paulo. Since 2007 he is a researcher at the Law and the New Developmental State (LANDS) project, coordinated by Professor David Trubek (University of Wisconsin School of Law). In 2007 he has attended the Cambridge Programme on Rethinking Development Economics (CAPORDE). Prof. Coutinho has written on regulatory reform, competition, law and public policies, law and development, and democratization in Brazil.