Riccardo Colacito

Riccardo (Ric) Colacito’s research interests are in the areas of international finance, financial econometrics, model uncertainty, experimental economics and climate change.

His research has been published in top peer-reviewed journals, including the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy and Journal of Finance. He has been featured on several news outlets, including CNN, CBS and The Wall Street Journal.

Dr. Colacito is director of the Capital Markets and Investments concentration in the Full-Time MBA Program.

He has received several teaching awards, such as the Weatherspoon Award for Excellence in PhD Teaching and the MBA teaching All Star award.

He serves or has served on the editorial board of several academic journals, including Management Science and the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis.

Dr. Colacito has a secondary appointment with the economics department at UNC and is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) with the international finance and macroeconomics group.

He received his PhD in economics from New York University. He grew up in Italy, where he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from Bocconi University, Milan.  

Areas Of Expertise

• Econometrics
• Finance
• Stock Market

Companies

• Professor of Finance and Economics UNC Kenan-Flagler (2019)
• Research Associate National Bureau of Economic Research (2018)
• Associate Professor of Finance and Economics UNC Kenan-Flagler (2013)
• Assistant Professor of Finance UNC Kenan-Flagler (2006 — 2013)
• Visiting Assistant Professor NYU Stern School of Business (2007 — 2008)

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) New York University (2001 — 2006)
• Master’s Degree Università Commerciale 'Luigi Bocconi' (2000 — 2001)
• Bachelor's degree Università Bocconi (1996 — 2000)
• Visiting Scholar University of California, San Diego (1999 — 1999)

Grants, honors, and awards

• Best paper award for “Volatility Risk Pass-through” at the Annual International Finance Conference, Oslo (Norway), 2018.
• Best Discussant Award, Finance Down Under Conference, Melbourne (Australia), 2018.
• Weatherspoon Award for “Excellence in Ph.D. Teaching”, UNC Chapel Hill, 2013.
• MBA Teaching All Star, UNC Chapel Hill, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020.
• Morgan Stanley, Equity Market Microstructure Research Grant (with Eric Ghysels), 2007.
• McCracken Fellowship (September 2001 – April 2006).
• Fondazione Invernizzi Fellowship (September 2000 – June 2001).
• B.A. in Economics summa cum laude.
• Provost’s honors at UCSD.