Alessandra Casella is an economist, researcher, professor, and author. Currently, she is an

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

professor at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Life

Casella received her bachelor's degree with a

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

in Economics and Social Sciences from

Bocconi University Bocconi University ( it, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, ) is a private university in Milan, Italy. Bocconi provides education in the fields of economics, finance, law, management, political science, public administration and computer sci ...

, Milan, in March 1983. She furthered her studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she received her master's degree and Ph.D. in economics, 1988. Her thesis focused on

hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as t ...

and the real exchange rates and supply shocks in the economy. After graduating, Casella's research continues to focus on economics, with more specific interests in public economics, experimental economics, and political economy. In 2019, Casella was the director of the Columbia Laboratory for the Social Sciences, and a fellow in both the

National Bureau of Economic Research The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic c ...

in Cambridge and the British Center for Economic Policy Research. She is the author of two books: ''Networks and Markets. Contributions from Economics and Sociology'' and ''Storable Votes: Protecting the Minority Voice.''

Career

Academic

Casella started her teaching career at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

as an assistant professor from 1987 to 1993. From 1996 to 2010, she was the part-time Director of Studies at the

École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and ''grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The ...

(EHESS, School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences) based in Paris, France. In the time between her career in UC Berkeley and Directorship at EHESS, Casella became an associate Professor of Economics at Columbia University,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, from 1993 till 1997. Her career with Columbia University continued where she eventually became a professor of economics at Columbia University in 1997 until current. Since then, Casella has taught Ph.D. courses in ''Experimental Methods in Political Economy'' and ''Special Topics in Political Economics''. She has also taught undergraduate classes in

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

and

experimental economics Experimental economics is the application of experimental methods to study economic questions. Data collected in experiments are used to estimate effect size, test the validity of economic theories, and illuminate market mechanisms. Economic expe ...

. Since 2017, Casella has also become a Professor of Political Science at Columbia University.

Journals

* 1996: Invited editor for the ''

European Economic Review The ''European Economic Review'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers research in economics. The journal was established in 1969 and the five main editors are: Florin Bilbiie, (University of Lausanne); David K. Levine, (European Universi ...

''. A special issue on the domain of the state * 2007: Invited editor for the ''

Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization The ''Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization'' is an academic journal published by Elsevier. It was started in 1980 by North-Holland, later merged into Elsevier. It publishes research on economic decision and behaviour influence organizati ...

''. A special issue in honor of Economist Alan Kirman * 2004–2009: Associate Editor for the '' Journal of Public Economic Theory'' * 2013–2017: On the Editorial Board for the ''Journal of Experimental Political Science'' * 2016–current: Associate Editor for the ''

American Economic Review The ''American Economic Review'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Economic Association. First published in 1911, it is considered one of the most prestigious and highly distinguished journals in the field of ec ...

Others

* 1988–1997: Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge * 1988: Research Fellow at the Center for Economic Policy Research, London * 1994–1995: Panel member at ''

Economic Policy The economy of governments covers the systems for setting levels of taxation, government budgets, the money supply and interest rates as well as the labour market, national ownership, and many other areas of government interventions into the e ...

'' * 1997: Research associate at National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge * 2004–2006: Economics panel member at the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

* 2012: Director at Columbia Experimental Laboratory for Social Sciences * 2013–2016: Scientific Board member at AXA Research Fund

Fellowships

* Fall 1989: National Bureau of Economic Research,

Ford Foundation Fellowship The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

* 1990–1991:

Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, National Fellow * 1992–1993: Institute for Policy Reform, Washington, D.C., Junior Research Fellow * 1993:

German Marshall Fund The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a nonpartisan American public policy think tank that seeks to promote cooperation and understanding between North America and the European Union. Founded in 1972 through a gift from the We ...

of the United States Fellowship * 1997–1998:

Russell Sage Foundation The Russell Sage Foundation is an American non-profit organisation established by Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” It was named after her recently deceased husband, rail ...

, New York, N.Y., Fellow * 2004–2005:

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

, Princeton, N.J., Member * 2006–2007: John Simon Guggenheim Fellow * 2012–2013: Straus Institute Fellow,

NYU Law School New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

Academic publications

Working papers

* “Trading Votes for Votes. An Experiment” (with Thomas Palfrey), May 2017 * “Storable Votes and Quadratic Voting. An Experiment on Four California Propositions” (with Luis Sanchez), in progress.

Books

* ''Storable Votes: Protecting the Minority Voice.''

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, New York, 2012. Print * ''Networks and Markets. Contributions from Economics and Sociology'' (With James Raunch),

, New York, 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casella, Alessandra Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Columbia University faculty 20th-century American economists 21st-century American economists American women economists MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni Bocconi University alumni University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty 20th-century American women 21st-century American women