Riccardo Puglisi is professor of public economics at the University of Pavia. An Alumnus of Collegio Ghislieri, he studied in Pavia (BSc in economics and doctorate in public finance) and at the London School of Economics (Master and PhD in economics).

His research is focused on the political role of the mass media, on public economics, and the economic role of political institutions. He has published in international journals in economics and political science such as the Journal of the European Economic Association, the Journal of Politics and the Journal of Public Economics. He is a member of the editorial board of lavoce.info. He teaches public economics in Pavia and Bocconi and political economy in Pavia.

In 2013-14 he participated to the spending review exercise conducted by Carlo Cottarelli; in 2015 he received the Ghislieri Award with Virginio Rognoni, and in 2016 he won the Hicks-Tinbergen Medal with James M. Snyder, Jr., for the best article published in the previous two-year period in the Journal of the European Economic Association.