Marco Ottaviani
Full Professor

Biography
Marco Ottaviani is Full Professor of Economics at Bocconi University, where he teaches both at SDA Bocconi and at the PhD School. He served as Dean for Research from 2016 to 2018.
His research focuses on information and incentive problems at the intersection of organizational economics, industrial organization, regulation, and finance. More recently, he has studied the design of prediction markets, the aggregation of information within organizations, incentives and regulation of financial intermediaries, privacy and consumer protection, innovation financing through subsidy mechanisms, incentives to collect and disseminate empirical evidence, publication bias, clinical trials, and regulatory approval processes.
Marco graduated from Bocconi University in 1992 and earned his PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1996. Before returning to Bocconi in 2011, he began his academic career at University College London, later becoming Professor of Economics at London Business School and Professor of Strategy at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
Recent Publications
- 2024
When Liability Is Not Enough: Regulating Bonus Payments in Markets with Advice
HONDA, J., R. INDERST, M. OTTAVIANI, "When Liability Is Not Enough: Regulating Bonus Payments in Markets with Advice", Management Science, 2024, vol. 70, no. 2, pp. 1301-1314 - 2024
Approval regulation and learning, with application to timing of merger control
OTTAVIANI, M., A. L. WICKELGREN, "Approval regulation and learning, with application to timing of merger control", Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, 2024, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 597–624 - 2024
Grantmaking, Grading on a Curve, and the Paradox of Relative Evaluation in Nonmarkets
ADDA, J. F., M. OTTAVIANI, "Grantmaking, Grading on a Curve, and the Paradox of Relative Evaluation in Nonmarkets", Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2024, vol. 139, no. 2, pp. 1255–1319 - 2023
Looking into Crystal Balls: A Laboratory Experiment on Reputational Cheap Talk
MELOSO, D., S. NUNNARI, M. OTTAVIANI, "Looking into Crystal Balls: A Laboratory Experiment on Reputational Cheap Talk", Management Science, 2023, vol. 69, no. 9, pp. 5112-5127 - 2022
Regulation with Experimentation: Ex Ante Approval, Ex Post Withdrawal, and Liability
HENRY, E., M. LOSETO, M. OTTAVIANI, "Regulation with Experimentation: Ex Ante Approval, Ex Post Withdrawal, and Liability", Management Science, 2022, vol. 68, no. 7, pp. 5330-5347 - 2021
Strategic Sample Selection
DI TILLIO, A., M. OTTAVIANI, P. N. SØRENSEN, "Strategic Sample Selection", Econometrica, 2021, vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 911-953 - 2021
Information markets and nonmarkets
BERGEMANN, D., M. OTTAVIANI, "Information markets and nonmarkets" in Handbook of Industrial Organization., Kate Ho, Ali Hortaçsu, Alessandro Lizzeri (Eds.), Elsevier, chap. 8, pp. 593-672, 2021 - 2020
P-hacking in clinical trials and how incentives shape the distribution of results across phases
ADDA, J. F., C. DECKER, M. OTTAVIANI, "P-hacking in clinical trials and how incentives shape the distribution of results across phases", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the Usa (Pnas), 2020, vol. 117, no. 24, pp. 13386-13392 - 2020
Persuasion Through Selective Disclosure: Implications for Marketing, Campaigning, and Privacy Regulation
HOFFMANN, F., R. INDERST, M. OTTAVIANI, "Persuasion Through Selective Disclosure: Implications for Marketing, Campaigning, and Privacy Regulation", Management Science, 2020, vol. 66, no. 11, pp. 4958-4979 - 2020
Nobel 2020: la lezione di Milgrom e Wilson
DECAROLIS, F., M. OTTAVIANI, "Nobel 2020: la lezione di Milgrom e Wilson", lavoce.info, 13 October 2020
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Grants & Honors
Excellence in Research Award, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, 2024
Excellence in Research Award, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, 2023
Excellence in Research Award, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, 2022
Principal Investigator, Designing Institutions to Evaluate Ideas (EVALIDEA), 2012-2017, European Research Council, 2012
Robert F. Lanzillotti Prize for Best Paper in Antitrust Economics, International Industrial Organization Conference, 2009
Economic and Social Research Council, Research Grant #RES-000-22-0385, “Economic Policies for the Transition to Digital Television,” 2003-2004, 2003
Research Material and Development Grants, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, London Business School, 2003
Scholarship for Graduate Studies in Economics, 1995-1996, Banco di Sicilia, 1995
Summer Research Grant 1993 and 1994 - The World Economic Laboratory, MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1993
“Marco Fanno” Scholarship for Graduate Studies in Economics, 1993-1994 and 1994-1995, Mediocredito Centrale, 1993
Scholarship for Graduate Studies in Economics, 1992-1993, Cassa di Risparmio di Venezia, 1992

