The Economics and Management (EM) curriculum offers to candidates advanced training and preparation to conduct research at the intersection of economics, management and finance. The EM curriculum aims at developing professionals who are able to carry out, in these fields, advanced research in universities and international research institutions, manufacturing and service companies, credit and finance sectors, policy maker institutions, regulatory authorities and other public bodies. . Research questions address fundamental and actual themes with emphasis on sustainability, resilience, responsibility, change and transformation in the society. The Ph.D. programme allows the candidate to develop a sound methodological background and multidisciplinary knowledge by developing qualitative, quantitative and computational approaches in economics, management and finance. Three main research areas are addressed:

• Economics (EM1).

The Economics Area uses economic theory and models to study issues arising in the industrial, financial, innovation and business domains at both national and international level with the emphasis on quantitative methods for microeconomic, macroeconomic and policy effectiveness analysis. Research activities are conducted at multiple levels of analysis, including households, firms, sectors, banks, countries, policy makers and regulatory bodies. Specific attention is paid to the foundations of policy design and coordination, of economic decisions and of managerial processes. Theories and models are empirically based and are tested using multiple methodologies. Quantitative methods are used for the purposes of testing theories and of developing models for the study of economic systems and specific attention is dedicated to agent-based computational models and computational experiments on artificial economies. The goal is to determine the regularities and the emerging properties in economic systems and to evaluate the impacts of policy and regulatory measures as the result of the behaviors and of the interactions of heterogeneous bounded-rational economic agents. The Economics Area develops skills that provide access to work opportunities in the credit and financial sectors, in governments and international organizations, and in academia.

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• Finance (EM2).

The Finance Area pays a specific emphasis on preparing PhD students to become skilled and diligent researchers who bring a problem-solving perspective to the emerging challenges associated with finance. The research activities use computational econometrics, data mining and analytics, computational intelligence and machine learning, dynamic stochastic non-linear models of financial and economic data in a non-Gaussian environment and in the presence of extreme events. The objectives are to study and to model financial assets, to develop statistical algorithmic arbitrage strategies, to evaluate and mitigate systemic, systematic and operational risks in financial markets, to use quantitative methods for portfolio management and hedging solutions, to analyze technology’s impact on asset pricing and behavioral finance. The Finance Area develops skills that provide access to work opportunities in financial industries, in the private and public sectors and in academic fields.

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• Management (EM3).

The Management Area focuses on the study of firms, financial institutions and Public Administrations from an innovation, knowledge management, strategic or organizational point of view. Particular emphasis is paid to the study of the complex interactions among strategy, management and technology and to the analysis of business processes both internal and external to firms, institutions and administrations. Attentions is oriented towards understanding the change management processes required when introducing strategic, organizational, social or technological innovations with the goal of developing both innovative theoretical models and practical tools and methodologies to be applied and tested in real cases. The research topics are studied across industries and regions, also by comparing best practices and models developed in different countries. Research activities in this area are based on qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including case studies, action research, surveys, modelling and simulation. The Management Area develops skills that provide access to work opportunities in both private industries and Public Administrations, in national and international organizations, and in academia.

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Contact: Prof. Silvano Cincotti