Professor of Economic History
Bocconi University
Guido Alfani is a professor of economic history at Bocconi University, Milan (Italy). An economic and social historian and an historical demographer, he has published extensively on inequality and social mobility in the long run, as well as on a range of other topics including the history of famines and epidemics and systems of social alliance. Recent works include As Gods Among Men: A History of the Rich in the West (2023), The Lion’s Share: Inequality and Rise of the Fiscal State in Preindustrial Europe (2019, with Matteo Di Tullio), and Famine in European History (2017, with Cormac Ó Gráda). From 2012 to 2016, he was the principal investigator of the project EINITE-Economic Inequality across Italy and Europe, 1300-1800 (www.dondena.unibocconi.it/EINITE), funded by the European Research Council (ERC). From 2017 to 2022, he has been the principal investigator of a second ERC project, SMITE-Social Mobility and Inequality across Italy and Europe 1300-1800.
Areas of Expertise
Inequality
Social Mobility
Economic History
Historical Demography
- Stone Center Working Paper Series. no. 108: Wealth Inequality and Epidemics in the Republic of Venice (1400–1800)
- Stone Center Working Paper Series. no. 95: Long-Term Trends in Income and Wealth Inequality in Southern Italy. The Kingdom of Naples (Apulia), Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries
- Blog Post: On the Super-Involvement of the Super-Rich in U.S. Politics: Guido Alfani
- Scholar Interview: Guido Alfani’s ‘As Gods Among Men’ Offers a Surprising History of the Rich in the West
- Stone Center Working Paper Series. no. 23: Epidemics, Inequality and Poverty in Preindustrial and Early Industrial Times
- Stone Center Working Paper Series. no. 03: Economic Inequality in Preindustrial Germany, ca. 1300–1850
