Research & publications

I study how institutions — law, the family, the rules of living together — shape behaviour, often through laboratory and field experiments.

Google Scholar → RePEc →

Research areas

Behavioural law and economics

Judicial errors, standards of proof and deterrence; how people respond to sanctions and procedures.

Institutions and property rights

Field experiments in Benin on how formalising land rights affects trust, respect for property and honesty.

Family, wellbeing and generations

Family and happiness, birth rates, intergenerational justice and proxy voting for children.

Civil economy and the commons

Cooperation and public goods, intrinsic motivation, prizes and incentives.

HURfutureThe research centre I direct at LUMSA University: projects, people, working papers. Visit the website ↗

Working papers

Testing Ten Stylized Facts About Public Goods Games. A Large-Scale Replication Using Classroom Data Marcus Giamattei, Pierfrancesco Alaimo di Loro, Matteo Rizzolli, Stefan Voigt — HURfuture Working Paper 05, 2026 RePEc

Changing Demography by Changing Democracy. Welfare and Fertility under Proxy Voting for Children Federico Boffa, Tommaso Reggiani, Matteo Rizzolli, Federico Trombetta — HURfuture Working Paper 02, 2026 RePEc

Family = Happiness? Types, Commitment and Multidimensional Wellbeing Dalila de Rosa, Pierluigi Murro, Matteo Rizzolli, Matteo A. Ruberto — HURfuture Working Paper 01, 2026 RePEc

All working papers on RePEc →

Work and projects in progress

EU Regulatory Experimentalism: Explaining, Assessing, Designing PRIN 2026, funded — PI Edoardo Chiti (Sant'Anna); LUMSA unit with Nicoletta Rangone

A new intergenerational justice index working title — with Pieter Vanhuysse and Chiara Goretti

Climate change perceptions and eco-anxiety working title — with Beatrice Sapone

Publications

Journal articles, chapters and other writings, with PDF and DOI.

Type

Theme

2026

Property Rights and Honest Behavior Plinio Limata, Marco Fabbri, Antonello Maruotti, Matteo Rizzolli — Italian Economic Journal PDF DOI

2025

An experimental manipulation of divisibility in the public good game Pietro Battiston, Simona Gamba, Matteo Rizzolli, Valentina Rotondi — Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 240, 107300 PDF DOI

Understanding Happiness Amidst COVID-19: Exploring Relations, Religion and Trust Matteo A. Ruberto, Giulia Gioeli, Matteo Rizzolli, Antonello Maruotti — Economic Notes PDF DOI

2024

Strangers' Property Marco Fabbri, Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci, Matteo Rizzolli — The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization PDF DOI

Detecting Moral Features in TV Series with a Transformer Architecture through Dictionary-Based Word Embedding Paolo Fantozzi, Valentina Rotondi, Matteo Rizzolli, Paola Dalla Torre, Maurizio Naldi — Information 15(3), 128 PDF DOI

2023

The Economy of Francesco: Ongoing Perspectives for a New Economy Giacomo Ciambotti, Andrea Roncella, Antonietta Riccardo, Lucia Marchegiani, Matteo Rizzolli — Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion 20(4) — editoriale PDF DOI

Solidarietà intergenerazionale e suffragio (davvero) universale Matteo Rizzolli — in G. Ferri, S. Bruno, P. Limata (a cura di), L'Europa giusta: legalità, disparità sociali e responsabilità intergenerazionali, Cacucci PDF

Le ragioni economiche delle politiche familiari Matteo Rizzolli — cap. 3 in Rapporto CISF 2023 sulle politiche familiari PDF

2021

Multilevel Hidden Markov Models for Behavioral Data: A Hawk-and-Dove Experiment Antonello Maruotti, Marco Fabbri, Matteo Rizzolli — Multivariate Behavioral Research PDF DOI

Lies have long legs. Cheating, peer scrutiny and loyalty in teams Pietro Battiston, Simona Gamba, Matteo Rizzolli, Valentina Rotondi — Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics 94, 101732 PDF DOI

Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law: possession, property, and coordination in a Hawk–Dove Experiment Matteo Rizzolli, Marco Fabbri, Antonello Maruotti — Journal of Institutional Economics 17(2), 267–288 PDF

Trading fast and slow: The role of deliberation in experimental financial markets Giovanni Ferri, Matteo Ploner, Matteo Rizzolli — Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance 32, 100593 PDF DOI

2020

The Pied Piper: Prizes, Incentives, and Motivation Crowding-in Luigino Bruni, Vittorio Pelligra, Tommaso Reggiani, Matteo Rizzolli — Journal of Business Ethics 166(3), 643–658 PDF DOI

Standing together: is family a resilience factor for subjective wellbeing? Matteo Rizzolli, Dalila De Rosa — in A Modern Guide to the Economics of Happiness, Edward Elgar PDF

2019

Family, Happiness and Wellbeing Matteo Rizzolli — in Stronger Families for a Flourishing Society, Sallux Publishing, 31–37

Prices, praises, and prizes Robert Dur, Matteo Rizzolli — International Review of Economics 66(1) DOI

2018

Hard labor in the lab: Deterrence, non-monetary sanctions, and severe procedures James Tremewan, Matteo Rizzolli — Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics 77, 107–121 PDF DOI

Thou shalt not steal: Taking aversion with legal property claims Marco Faillo, Stephan Tontrup, Matteo Rizzolli — Journal of Economic Psychology PDF DOI

Type-I and Type-II Errors Matteo Rizzolli — in Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, Springer PDF

Gender effects in injustice perceptions: An experiment on error evaluation and effort provision Lucia Marchegiani, Tommaso Reggiani, Matteo Rizzolli — in Gender Issues in Business and Economics, Springer DOI

Spunti per una nuova economia della famiglia Matteo Rizzolli — Vita e Pensiero, nov.–dic. PDF

2017

Conditional Privacy Rights: A View from the Cathedral Matteo Rizzolli — Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 173(1) DOI

2016

Loss averse agents and lenient supervisors in performance appraisal Lucia Marchegiani, Tommaso Reggiani, Matteo Rizzolli — Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 131, 183–197 PDF DOI

2015

Errori di valutazione e motivazione del personale Lucia Marchegiani, Tommaso Reggiani, Matteo Rizzolli — in Baroncelli (a cura di), Bozen-Bolzano University Press

2014

In Dubio Pro Reo. Behavioral explanations of pro-defendant bias in procedures Antonio Nicita, Matteo Rizzolli — CESifo Economic Studies 60(3), 554–580 PDF

2013

Better that ten guilty persons escape: punishment costs explain the standard of evidence Matteo Rizzolli, Margherita Saraceno — Public Choice 155(3), 395–411 PDF DOI

2012

Judicial errors and crime deterrence: theory and experimental evidence Matteo Rizzolli, Luca Stanca — Journal of Law & Economics 55(2), 311–338 PDF DOI

Wrongful convictions do lower deterrence Nuno Garoupa, Matteo Rizzolli — Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 168(2), 224–231 PDF DOI

Hold-up and externality: the firm as a nexus of incomplete rights? Antonio Nicita, Matteo Rizzolli — International Review of Economics 59(2), 157–174 PDF DOI

Exploring Coase's World: An introduction Antonio Nicita, Matteo Rizzolli, Henry Smith — International Review of Economics 59(2), 111–120 PDF DOI

2011

Why the Brady rule may hurt the innocent Nuno Garoupa, Matteo Rizzolli — American Law and Economics Review 13(1), 168–200 PDF DOI

2010

Why prosecutors cannot appeal acquittals Matteo Rizzolli — Studi e Note di Economia XV(1), 81–101 PDF

2009

The Economics of Art Thefts: Too Much Screaming over Munch's Scream? Antonio Nicita, Matteo Rizzolli — Economic Papers 28(4), 291–303 PDF DOI

Building Encroachments Matteo Rizzolli — Review of Law & Economics 5(1) PDF DOI

The Case for the Virtual Strike Antonio Nicita, Matteo Rizzolli — Portuguese Economic Journal 8(3) PDF DOI

Il caso dello «sciopero virtuale» tra equivoci e illusioni Antonio Nicita, Matteo Rizzolli — Mercato Concorrenza Regole XI(2) PDF

2008

Il puzzle della patente a punti Paola Di Nola, Matteo Rizzolli — Consumatori, Diritti e Mercato, n. 3

2007

L'inappellabilità dei proscioglimenti: un'analisi economica Matteo Rizzolli — Rivista di Diritto Finanziario e Scienza delle Finanze 66(4) PDF

2006

Property rules, liability rules and externalities Antonio Nicita, Matteo Rizzolli — Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice XXIV(2-3) PDF

Le opzioni nel mercato delle regole Antonio Nicita, Matteo Rizzolli, Roberto Pardolesi — Mercato Concorrenza Regole VIII(2)

Academic conference talks

Scientific seminars and conferences. Talks for the general public are in Public engagement.

5 Sep 2021 Covid-19 and social preferencesSeminario dottorato "Contemporary Humanism"

21 Nov 2019 Workshop (invitato da Murat e Nuno)Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, Washington DC

7 Jul 2018 Con Massimiliano Vatiero, Antonio NicitaWorkshop STILE 2018

15 Dec 2017 SIDE-ISLE (Italian Society of Law & Economics) — Annual Conference 2017, LUMSA

10 Apr 2017 Workshop "Prizes and Virtues" (HEIRS), LUMSA Roma

Jan 2017 Presentazione di un lavoro con Luigino Bruni, Vittorio Pelligra e Tommaso Reggiani, a un anno dalla morte di Porta; invito di Luca StancaGiornata di studi in memoria di Pierluigi Porta, Università di Milano-Bicocca