Introducing the FUS Faculty: Luca Colombo

Adjunct Professor, Economics

Ph.D. University of Bielefeld, Germany
M.A. University of Pennsylvania, USA
Dottore in Economia, Università Cattolica, Milan, Italy

Head of Department of Economics and Finance at the Università Cattolica, Milan, Italy

Office: Kaletsch Campus, Faculty Office 9
Phone: +41 91 985 22 64
Email: lcolombo@fus.edu

Professor of Economics at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy, Dr. Colombo has an extensive publication record and is the recipient of several awards and research grants. His research interests include microeconomic theory, innovation, industrial organization, banking and finance.

2024-2025 Courses

ECN 204	History of Economic Thought	FALL 2024
This intermediate-level course studies the evolution of economic ideas from the early Eighteenth century to modern times, with emphasis on the differing conceptions of economic life and the methodological underpinnings of three main strands of thought: Classical economics, Marginalism, and the Keynesian paradigm. The course is organized around four main themes: the source of wealth, the theory of value, economic growth and business cycle in the capitalist system, and the notion of equilibrium in economic analysis. The course aims at providing a systematic conceptual framework to investigate the development of economic ideas, in their intersections with philosophy and the political and historical evolution of societies, hence highlighting the nature of economics as a social science. At the same time, the course stresses the methodological features (in terms of a rigorous and formalized language) peculiar to the economic reasoning.
ECN 365	Investment Analysis I	FALL 2024
This course focuses on the basic concepts of value and risk, and explores the principles that guide strategic investment decisions. Major emphasis is placed on the notion of net present value, the evaluation and pricing of bonds and stocks, and the definition and measurement of risk. The concepts of portfolio risk and expected return, as well as the role of portfolio diversification are carefully investigated. Students are then introduced to market efficiency, portfolio theory and the relationship between risk and return in the context of alternative theories, mainly the capital asset pricing model and the arbitrage pricing theory. (Recommended: ECN 225, ECN 256; Strongly Recommended: MAT 200)
ECN 320	Games and Strategic Decision Making	SPRING 2025
Most decisions taken by economic agents (consumers, firms, investors, borrowers, and lenders, among others) have an effect on other agents’ actions. In many circumstances, people try to respond optimally to the actions taken by those with whom they interact. Therefore, investigating how the strategic interaction between agents unfolds is crucial to understand how decisions are taken in most economic and financial environments, and what their implications are. The course investigates strategic decision making by relying on game theory in a simple and accessible way, privileging an intuitive, yet accurate, understanding of the key underlying concepts of strategic behavior, rationality, and equilibrium in games, through a number of applications both in economics and finance.
ECN 366	Investment Analysis II (Corporate Finance)	SPRING 2025
This course focuses on the financing decisions of firms. After an introduction to the questions related to the definition of debt policy and the capital structure of the firm, the course investigates the problems related to the issue of securities and dividend policy, as well as the impact of corporate taxes and the costs associated to bankruptcy, financial distress and conflicts of interest. The second part of the course studies the fundamentals of option pricing theory and the valuation of options - with applications to warrants and convertible bonds - and provides an introduction to the use of derivatives for hedging financial risk.