Orazio Attanasio

Orazio Attanasio (born 31 October 1959, in Naples) is an Italian economist and the Jeremy Bentham Chair of Economics at University College London. He graduated from the University of Bologna in 1982 and London School of Economics in 1988. He then went to teach at Stanford. Currently he is also a member of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) in London.
In 2004, Attanasio co-authored an IFS evaluation of an initiative which was designed to improve the lives of children in small Colombian towns and villages by paying their mothers to improve their children's food intake; in return, younger children had to have regular medical check-ups and older ones were required to attend school regularly. Begun in 2002, and funded by both the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, the project had examined how funds to alleviate poverty and promote development should be targeted. Early results were positive, showing both an increase in the number of children going to school and those enjoying improved diets. Attanasio said, "This evaluation is important, not just for Colombia, but to help us understand how developing countries can best target valuable resources to improve the prospects for their poorest children."
In October 2016, Attanasio won the 1 million Swiss francs Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize for his "use of economic models and field experiments to assess and shape early child development programs and policies in low income countries".

• . (with S. Rohwedder). "Pension Wealth and Household Saving: Evidence from Pension Reforms in the United Kingdom". American Economic Review. 93 (5): 1499–1521. December 2003. doi:10.1257/000282803322655419. JSTOR 3132139.