Istituto Einaudi per l'Economia e la Finanza

Their core work

The Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF) is a Rome-based research institute dedicated to frontier academic research in economics and finance. It hosts and supports individual researchers — typically early-career economists — pursuing theoretical and empirical questions in macroeconomics, industrial organization, and political economy. In H2020, EIEF served as the institutional host for ERC Starting Grant holders, providing the research environment, administrative infrastructure, and academic community needed for independent investigator-led projects. Their work translates economic theory into rigorous quantitative models that explain real-world phenomena such as market inefficiencies, firm behavior, and institutional corruption.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Both H2020 projects began in 2016, and no keyword metadata is available, making it impossible to trace a meaningful evolution in research focus from early to late H2020 participation. The two projects together suggest a coherent economics research agenda spanning macroeconomic theory and applied political economy, but no directional shift can be confirmed from the available data. Any assessment of post-2016 trajectory would require looking beyond H2020 records to the institute's publication output or Horizon Europe activity.

With only two projects both starting in 2016 and no subsequent H2020 activity, EIEF appears to use EU funding selectively to host exceptional individual researchers rather than to build a programmatic research portfolio — future collaborations are likely to depend on specific researcher profiles rather than institutional strategy.

How they like to work

EIEF operates almost exclusively as a host institution for individual ERC-funded researchers, meaning their "collaboration" model is fundamentally different from typical consortium partners — they provide the institutional home, not a research team that joins consortia. They worked with only one external partner across both projects, suggesting minimal appetite for large multi-partner collaborations. Engaging EIEF as a partner means engaging the specific researcher they host, not a broad institutional capability.

EIEF's H2020 network is extremely narrow — one unique partner in one country across two projects. This reflects the nature of ERC grants, which are investigator-led and require few or no consortium partners.

What sets them apart

EIEF is one of Italy's few dedicated economics and finance research institutes operating at a level that attracts ERC Starting Grant winners — a highly selective distinction that signals the quality of researchers it hosts. Unlike university economics departments, EIEF offers a focused, publication-oriented environment without heavy teaching loads, making it attractive to top-tier researchers. For consortium builders who need a credible Italian economics research partner with ERC-track credentials, EIEF offers institutional legitimacy and methodological rigor in quantitative economics.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MACROPMF
  The largest project by funding (EUR 1,192,000) and the one where EIEF served as coordinator, covering macroeconomic dynamics with product market frictions — a theoretically demanding area at the intersection of macroeconomics and industrial organization.
• REPCOR
  Addresses the economics of reputation and corruption in public procurement — a topic with direct policy relevance for EU institutions and member states concerned with public spending efficiency.