Riccardo Faini was Professor of Political Economy at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. He was previously Director General at the Italian Treasury, on leave from the University of Brescia. Between 1998 and 2001, he held the post of Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund. He was Research Fellow in the International Trade Programmes of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research. He also taught at the University of Essex, at the University of Venezia and at the Bologna Center of the Johns Hopkins University. Between 1985 and 1988, he worked in the Research Department at the World Bank.
He published extensively in professional journals. His main research interests were in regional development, migration and international trade. His last books include Labour Markets, Poverty and Development (Oxford University Press, edited with G. Barba Navaretti and G. Zanalda) and Trade and Migration. The Controversies and the Evidence. (Cambridge University Press, edited with J. De Melo and K. Zimmermann). He joined IZA as a Research Fellow in November 2001.

Riccardo Faini passed away on January 20, 2007 unexpectedly at the age of 55. IZA will cherish his important contributions in memory.