Richard Blundell

Richard Blundell is a prominent economist and currently serves as the Research Director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and holds the David Ricardo Chair of Political Economy at University College London. He has held visiting professor positions at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of California, Berkeley. In 2003, he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen's New Year Honours List (2006).

• Fellow of the Econometric Society (1991)
• Fellow of the British Academy (1996)
• Honorary Fellow of the American Economic Association (2001)
• Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Science (2002)
• Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (2003)

Blundell's research spans microeconometrics, labor supply, consumer behavior, socioeconomic inequality, and education returns. He has received prestigious awards, including the Yrjö Jahnsson Prize (1995) and the Econometric Society Frisch Prize (2000), for his work on labor supply responses to tax reforms. He served as editor of the Journal of Econometrics (1992–1997) and co-editor of Econometrica (1997–2001). Currently, he is a key editor of the Mirrlees Review of Tax Reform, set to report in Autumn 2009.

He earned a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Bristol (1973) and an M.Sc. in Econometrics from the London School of Economics (1975). Blundell has also held leadership roles, including President of the European Economic Association (2004) and President of the Econometric Society (2006). His recent research focuses on adult education returns, wage dynamics, women's labor market participation, and socioemotional skill inequality.