Silvia Saccardo

Silvia Saccardo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), affiliated with the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. She holds a PhD in Management from UC San Diego and a dual Master’s/Bachelor’s in Psychology (summa cum laude) from the University of Padova. Her research bridges economics and psychology, focusing on ethical decision-making, behavioral health, and experimental methodologies. She co-organizes the Early-Career Behavioral Economics (ECBE) conference and leads the B.S. in Decision Science program at CMU.

Education: PhD in Management (UC San Diego, 2015), MA (University of Padova, 2010), BA (University of Padova, 2007). Professional roles include Faculty Director of the Decision Science program and affiliations with CHIBE, BCFG, and the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Research interests span motivated cognition, corruption dynamics, gender competitiveness, and behavioral health interventions. Her work has been funded by the NSF, Russell Sage Foundation, and J-PAL, yielding over 20 peer-reviewed publications in top journals like Nature, Management Science, and PNAS.

Awards include the 2022 Clinical Research Achievement Award and a Best Paper Prize on Discrimination Economics. She advises PhD students in behavioral decision research and teaches courses on behavioral economics, negotiation, and ethics.