Browsing by Subject "Food prices"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Assessing the effect of changes in relative food prices and income on obesity prevalence in the United States.
    (2010-06) Dolar, Veronika
    Several empirical papers in the economics of obesity literature find that changes in aggregate food prices over time have little effect on the population's body-mass index or prevalence, while changes in the price of selected food items drastically affects what people eat. The purpose of this research is to further examine the impact of changes over time in food prices and household real income on individuals' food choices and weight using a calibrated static model. Our first objective is to contribute to the debate about the impact of food prices and household real income on weight and food choices using a different modeling strategy. We ask how much of the increase in calories consumed away from home as well as changes in weight for men and women between 1971 and 2006 can be accounted for by changes in food prices and household real income. A second and perhaps even more critical objective is to use economic theory and available evidence from medical research on obesity to look inside the black box of how people make eating decisions. After careful calibration of the model, we find that prices determine the allocation of calories across food types, while income determine the total number of calories consumed and thus individuals' weight. Based on our results, we share the view that taxes on food will impact what people eat but will have limited effect on reducing the population body-mass index or the obesity prevalence.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Essays in Food Security in Latin America and the United States
    (2018-11) Bohorquez-Penuela, Camilo
    This dissertation comprises three essays related with the problem of food insecurity (i.e., lack of access to enough and varied food required by households for their daily activities) in middle and high-income countries. The first chapter, "Subsidized Health Care and Food Insecurity: Evidence from Colombia", suggests that participation in a public-funded health care insurance for the poor is associated with a reduction on the probability of being food insecure. This result principally holds for rural households. The second chapter, "The Effects of Rising Staple Prices on Food Insecurity: The Case of Tortilla in Mexico" provides evidence on how increases in the price of tortilla, the most important staple in the country, is related with higher household food insecurity rates in Mexican states. Moreover, these price surges are more relevant when they take place in grocery stores---that sell low-quality tortillas---rather than locally-owned, small-scale tortillerias, specialized in selling freshly-made tortillas. The third chapter, "Food Price Fluctuations and Household Food Insecurity in the United States, 2005-2010" studies the association between food prices and household food insecurity in this country, showing that the price of grain and dairy-based products has the greatest association with higher food insecurity rates among American households during the Great Recession.