Professor of Economics

Director, Quantitative and Analytical Political Economy Centre, University of Warwick

Research Fellow, Centre for Economic Policy Research

Research Fellow, Baffi CAREFIN, Bocconi University

Research Interests

• Economic Theory
• Political Economy

My specific areas of research are the formal models of elections, communication games, dynamic games with asymmetric information, theoretical behavioral economics, formal models of international relations, and contract theory.

Short Bio

I was born in Cremona, Italy, in April 1971, where I lived until going to University in Milan, at Universita Bocconi in September 1990. I graduated in Economics and Statistics (DES), with honors in July 1995. In August 1995, I started a PhD in Economics at Northwestern University, in Evanston, IL, that I completed in June 2000, with Eddie Dekel and Juuso Valimaki as my advisers. In June 2000, I took an Assistant Professorship at the University of Rochester, Department of Economics, with Hugo Hopenhayn and John Duggan as my mentors; this position was renewed in June 2003. In September 2003, I have been tenured with a Lectureship (Assistant Professorship) in Economics at the University College, London. In November 2006, I have become Professore Ordinario at the Universita degli Studi di Brescia, Faculty of Economics and Management, then Professor at the University of Essex, Department of Economic, in September 2007, and Professor at the University of Warwick, Department of Economics, in May 2011.

My main publications are on the American Economic Review, the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Political Economy, the Review of Economic Studies, and the Journal of Economic Theory. I have presented my work in a number of international conferences and of University research seminars (including all the world top 20). I have held visiting positions at Princeton University, the University of California at Los Angeles, the London School of Economics, the London Business School, Bocconi University, the University of Illinois, the European University Institute, the Institut d'Analisi Economica - Barcelona and the EIEF - Bank of Italy.

I am the Director of the Quantitative and Analytical Political Economy Research Centre (QAPEC) at the Economics Department, University of Warwick, one of the founders of the Political Econonomy UK Research Group (PolEconUK) and of the CEPR-Warwick-Princeton-Yale Annual Conference in Political Economy. I am a Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (Organizational Economics Programme and Political Economy Research Group), and a Research Fellow of the Centre for Applied Research on International Markets, Money Banking and Regulation at Bocconi University.

Selected Publications

Political Economy

“Third Party Intervention and Strategic Militarization” (2022), with Adam Meirowitz, Massimo Morelli and Kris Ramsay, Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 17(1): 31-59. (Corresponding author)

“Dispute Resolution Institutions and Strategic Militarization” (2019), with Adam Meirowitz, Massimo Morelli and Kris Ramsay, Journal of Political Economy, 127(1): 378-418. (Corresponding author)

“Leadership with Trustworthy Associates”, (2018), with Torun Dewan, American Political Science Review, 112(4): 844-859.

“In Defense of Party Factions” (2016), with Torun Dewan, American Journal of Political Science, 60(4): 860–881

“Mediation and Peace” (2015), with Johannes Horner and Massimo Morelli, Review of Economic Studies, 82(4): 1483–1501. (Corresponding author)

“Information Aggregation and Optimal Selection of the Executive” (2015), with Torun Dewan, Andrea Galeotti and Christian Ghiglino, American Journal of Political Science, 59(2): 475-494.

“Competence and Ideology” (2011), with Dan Bernhardt and Odilon Camara, Review of Economic Studies, 78(2): 487-522.

“The Case for Responsible Parties” (2009), with Dan Bernhardt and John Duggan, American Political Science Review, 103(4): 570-587.

Information Economics

“The Design of Information Acquisition and Sharing” (2023), with Dimitri Migrow, Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics, 1(4): 710-745.

“On the Direction of Innovation” (2021), with Hugo Hopenhayn, Journal of Political Economy, 129(7): 1991-2022.

“Patent Rights and Innovation Disclosure” (2016), with Hugo Hopenhayn, Review of Economic Studies, 83(1): 199–230. (Corresponding author)

“Strategic Information Acquisition and Transmission” (2016), with Rossella Argenziano and Sergei Severinov, American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 8(3): pp. 119-155. (Corresponding author)

“Strategic Information Transmission Networks” (2013), with Andrea Galeotti and Christian Ghiglino, Journal of Economic Theory, 148(5): 1751–1769.

“Preemption Games with Private Information” (2011), with Hugo Hopenhayn, Review of Economic Studies, 78(2): 667-692. (Corresponding author)

“Credulity, Lies, and Costly Talk” (2007), with Navin Kartik and Marco Ottaviani, Journal of Economic Theory, 134(1): 93-116.

“Overconfidence, Insurance and Paternalism” (2007), with Alvaro Sandroni, American Economic Review, 97(5): 1994-2004.

Recent and Upcoming Academic Talks

2021-2024: APSA-Formal Theory Virtual Workshop, Barcelona GSE Summer Forum, Dan Bernhardt Festschrift at Warwick University, Bocconi-Carlo Alberto-Cornell Political Economy Workshop, Bocconi University Workshop in Geoeconomics, Bonn School of Economics, Eddie Dekel Festschrift at Northwestern University, Columbia University, University of Copenhagen, CEPR-Dortmund Political Economy Workshop, Essex University, Harvard University, University of Illinois, KU Leuven Summer Event, NYU-Abu Dhabi, Università di Padova-Venezia, École Polytechnique, Princeton University Political Economy Workshop, Royal Holloway University London, Virtual Seminars in Economic Theory, Yale University

Upcoming: University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Northwestern University, Stanford Institute for Theoretical Economics - Stanford University

Teaching 2023/24

EC9D31 - Microeconomics (MSc)

EC9C7: Theoretical Political Economics (MRes/PhD)

Teaching Evaluations: 2007/08– 2008/09 – 2009/10 – 2010/11 – 2011/12 – 2012/13 – 2013/14 – 2014/15 – 2015/16 – 2016/17– 2017/18 – 2018/19 – 2019/20 – 2020/21 – 2021/22 – 2022/23

Advice and Feedback Hours: by email appointment.