Economics or Finance: A Choice at the Halfway Point

AFTER THREE SEMESTERS TOGETHER, BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS AND FINANCE (BIEF) STUDENTS CAN CHOOSE THEIR OWN PATH. WHICH ALWAYS FEATURES AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE, DIRECTOR PAOLO COLLA EXPLAINS

What makes the program in International Economics and Finance unique, as explained by Paolo Colla, Associate Professor at the Bocconi Department of Finance and Director of BIEF since 2018, "is that after a year and a half together, students can choose between two tracks, the one in Economics, during which they delve into major international issues (globalization, international economics, monetary economics and development economics), and the one in Finance, in which they study a wide range of topics related to the functioning of the modern financial system from a global point of view (capital markets, financial intermediaries, financial contracts and instruments and corporate finance techniques)." An unparalleled choice among the University's programs, which allows students to carefully consider which path to take.

BIEF, held entirely in English, shares a large part of the Finance track with the BSc in Economia e finanza (a program in Italian), but is different from it, explains the Director, "because it has a more international perspective, the examples and stories during lessons are always international, not Italian, cases. Another aspect concerns quantitative subjects, because in the third year of the program, there is a compulsory course in econometrics. The situation is different for the track in Economics, whose courses are decidedly different after the first three joint semesters."

To go into a little more detail, Paolo Colla explains some features of the two tracks: "In the one in Finance, which is chosen by about 80% of students, after the first part with shared classes, the focus is on the three classic areas of a finance program: corporate finance, financial intermediaries and financial investments. For the track in Economics, however, the program overall is similar to programs abroad in the Business Economics area, combining the study of economics with management and accounting courses.”

Students who choose to enroll in this program come almost equally from Italian and international schools: "Finance and economics are now global issues and it is a wise choice to study them directly in English," says Paolo Colla, "especially for those who have a good command of the language. One in two BIEF students goes on an exchange in their third year, and the number of internships is also very high, most of them abroad. And an international degree is also very marketable."

by Davide Ripamonti
Translated by Jenna Walker