Casella received her bachelor's degree with a summa cum laude in Economics and Social Sciences from Bocconi University, Milan, in March 1983.
She furthered her studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she received her master's degree and Ph.D. in economics, 1988.
Her thesis focused on hyperinflation and the real exchange rates and supply shocks in the economy.
In the time between her career in UC Berkeley and Directorship at EHESS, Casella became an associate Professor of Economics at Columbia University, New York, from 1993 till 1997.
), 2005, Recent Developments in International Trade Theory, Edward Elgar Publishing: Cheltenham, U.K.)