Pierfrancesco, Still a Student but Already Doing Research
When you talk to Pierfrancesco Mei, he seems almost shy, but when he tells about himself he shows the decisive attitude of someone who already has clear ideas about what he wants to do in life. A Tuscan from Pistoia, 25 years old, he is in the second year of the MSc program in Economic and Social Sciences after a Bachelor degree in the same field, also from Bocconi. Pierfrancesco is the beneficiary of Vittorio Bertazzoni scholarship, which every year supports 11 University students in BSc and MSc programs as part of Una sfida possibile campaign. Not only that: Pierfrancesco has already started down a path dedicated to research that has led him to collaborate as a visiting student of IGIER Bocconi research center, with professors such as Francesco Giavazzi, Alberto Alesina and Carlo Favero.
A story of merit that Pierfrancesco recounted during the 2018 Donor Event and which began after classics high school in his hometown: "My father always transmitted to me the value of an excellent education. After high school, I decided to take a year off to prepare for application to several universities, "says the young man. "In the end I was accepted at the London School of Economics, Warwick University, UCL, King's College and Bocconi. And I chose the latter ". So, instead of leaving for London, Pierfrancesco preferred heading for Milan: "I chose Bocconi for the quality of teaching and because I would have something more in terms of contacts, even giving up the favorable position in London. And then I liked the idea of giving my small contribution to Italy with my work, which I hope to do also in the future ". At Bocconi he began the program in economics and finance, but interrupted after a year: "I understood that my path was pure economics", he explains, "and so I decided to change academic programs".
Between the second and third year of the Bachelor program he approached IGIER Bocconi for a project coordinated by Massimo Marinacci ("he and Professor Maristella Botticini were fundamental in my choice to approach the social sciences and research"), dealing with the concept of diversification in microeconomics. Then, in the third year, the thesis with Francesco Giavazzi on the dynamics of public debt during fiscal adjustments. "That is a theme on which I continued to work even later, when I entered as a visiting student at IGIER, where I collaborated with Alesina, Favero and Giavazzi dealing with the part related to the public debt in their wider project on the macroeconomic effects of fiscal policy ".
And so it's research: "I grew up with a great passion for studying and when I joined Bocconi I really liked the urge to find original solutions to problems. I like to be critical of what I read and I like to compare myself with those who have faced the same issues: it is intellectually challenging ", continues the student. "There are many areas of the economy that stimulate me: from understanding why certain public policies work and others do not, to studying the distortions in consumer behavior. I find it fascinating to combine the elegance of mathematics with the attempt to shape social behavior ".
A union between theory and practice that Pierfrancesco has also put into practice in life. To those who imagine him as a boy alone dedicated to crazy and desperate study, the young Tuscan replies telling about his other interests: he is president of the student association Economic society, he played tennis at a competitive level as a teenager, is passionate about sailing and cycling ( "Last summer, with my father, we did a tour of the Alps by bike"). And then, "During the preparation for admission to the University I got in touch with the Italian editorial board of the Financial Times and I started collaborating with them on articles on economics and politics", adds emphasizing his other great love, political journalism.
"Getting this scholarship", he concludes, "was a great satisfaction and a great help for my parents, who have invested so much in my education. It is nice to realize that my commitment, in Bocconi, is recognized".