Tribute to Noemi Pace

Noemi Pace, Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Teramo, passed away in Rome, Italy, on September 25th, age 42, after a long and courageous battle against cancer. She was a graduate of the University of Rome Tor Vergata in 2008, where she also received her BA and MS in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Before joining the Department of Political Science at the University of Teramo in 2019, she had multiple experiences of research and work in Italy and abroad. After starting her career as an intern at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in Amman (Jordan), she has been a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Health Policy at Stanford (USA) and a Research Analyst at Acumen LLC, Burlingame (USA) in 2007. Later, she became a Research Fellow both at the Centre for International Health and Development of University College London (UK) and at the Department of Economics and Management of LUISS University (Italy) in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Between 2010 and 2019, she was appointed Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics, University of Ca’ Foscari (Italy). Between 2015 and 2022, she served as a consultant for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Despite her young age, Noemi contributed to more than 50 publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, chapters in edited books, policy reports and briefs, and has given more than 40 lectures at national and international conferences. Her research interests were manifold, both theoretical and empirical. One of her main focuses was the study of decision-making by individuals and its consistency with the basic principles of economics and game theory through the use of laboratory experiments, with applications especially to health topics. Her work in this area has been particularly rich, exploring, among others: human behaviour under ambiguity, a situation in which probabilities do not exist or the decision-maker does not know actual probabilities; the behavioural patterns contributing to the improvement of individuals’ suboptimal choices; the role played by learning and advice in reducing suboptimality for risk-neutral subjects. Some of Noemi’s laboratory experiments were conducted with Daniela Di Cagno, Professor of Economics at LUISS University. “We will never forget her grace and her clever and independent way of thinking,” says Di Cagno.

Another important stream of her analysis looked at the economic impacts of social protection programmes across sub-Saharan Africa. Her work contributed to increasing FAO’s international standing in the realm of evidence-based policy dialogue and informed the design of these programmes. This includes research on the effectiveness of labelling and messaging for influencing the use of cash transfers; on the synergies that can be achieved by combining agricultural and social protection interventions; and on the role of social protection in encouraging livelihood diversification, risk-taking and women’s economic inclusion. She also provided invaluable technical advice and guidance on evaluation and quantitative assessment for several FAO projects in other regions and helped to shape FAO's research agenda on social protection, committing to the highest intellectual standards.

Noemi will be remembered not only for her scientific and professional brilliance, outstanding achievements, her dedication to work and commitment to the institutions she worked for but also for her kindness and human warmth. Mari Kangasniemi, Social Protection officer at FAO, worked with Noemi on several projects. “Noemi willingly engaged with and supported colleagues of all levels and did not hesitate to go the extra mile to coach them,” Kangasniemi says. “Friends and colleagues also remember her as a wonderful conversationalist, with great wit and wisdom.”

She is survived by her husband, Alessandro, and her son, Riccardo.