Massimo Marinacci and the Mathematics that Give Aesthetic Value to Economic Theory

THE DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DECISION SCIENCES STUDIES DECISION MAKING IN CONDITIONS OF UNCERTAINTY AND HOLDS THE AXABOCCONI CHAIR IN RISK

In 1998 Massimo Marinacci was Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Toronto, Canada, but he decided to return to Italy. “I wanted to give back what I had received from the excellent Italian education system, from primary school to university. I felt I could contribute to the internationalization of the Italian academic system along with colleagues who, just like me, had studied and worked abroad. With this goal in mind I became department chairman first in Torino, and then here at Bocconi”.
 
Marinacci is Director of the Department of Decision Sciences and, since 2011, he holds the AXA-Bocconi Chair in Risk. And it was in Bocconi that he began studying economics in the 80s, driven by the love for its formal and social aspects. “I always liked history and mathematics: economics seemed to me the best way to combine these two interests. I began doing research driven by curiosity and by the desire to better understand an ever-changing world. I always wanted to understand economic and social phenomena through the powerful lenses of logical reasoning and mathematics”.
 
After the PhD at the Northwestern University and two years in Toronto, Marinacci became associate professor in Bologna and, then, full professor in Torino. He likes to venture into the realm of choice under uncertainty. He loves the “aesthetic value” of economic theory, as well as its relevance in everyday life. He contributed to formalize models for decision making under uncertainty. “The most rewarding aspects of my job, which I view as the best job in the world, are the thrill of scientific discovery and the daily interaction with the students”, he says. “The challenge as a department director is to maintain its high scientific quality and expanding it into new areas. We want to be leaders in the new quantitave methods made possible by computer science, which will play a key role in the future even in the traditional areas of interest of our university”.
 
Eighteen years later, Marinacci does not regret returning to Italy. Quite the opposite. Why? “Because Bocconi is an internationally competitive academic environment that rewards scientific merit”.
 

by Claudio Todesco