Institutional Description

The University of Naples Federico II is one of the oldest universities in the world and one of the very first secular state universities in Europe. It was founded on 5 June 1224 by the Swabian Emperor and King of Sicily, Frederick II, through an imperial act, aimed at training the ruling classes necessary for governing the state and at facilitating the cultural development of promising young students and scholars. Giovanni Boccaccio and Francesco Petrarca studied in Naples. In 1754 the University established the first Chair in Economics in Europe, that was entrusted to Antonio Genovesi, who inaugurated the course on November 5th. Nowadays, Naple Federico II is one of the largest universities in Italy, made up of 26 Departments and about 80,000 students.

The Center for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF) is a joint venture between the University of Naples Federico II, the University of Salerno, and Bocconi University. Its headquarters are located at the Department of Economics and Statistics of the University of Naples Federico II. CSEF provides an excellent environment for research, as it features an active group of researchers.  CSEF also has a series of online working papers (www.csef.it), with about 30 papers per year. CSEF ranks 6th in Italy and 44th in the European Union based on the IDEAS/RePEc ranking. 

The Department of Economics and Statistics (DISES) of the University of Naples Federico II is one of the leading Economics Departments in Italy and was nominated "Department of Excellence" for 2018-2022 and 2023-2027. DISES fosters theoretical and applied work in all fields of economics. Its researchers produce a steady output of top publications in international scientific journals and have been awarded prestigious international prizes and research grants.