A three period overlapping generations model is developed to investigate the impact of shorter life expectancy due to disease, on human capital investment decisions and income growth. This research is particularly relevant to Sub-Saharan Africa given the dramatic reduction in life expectancy due...

Although many theoretical industrial organization models are based on the existence of a critical mass of exogenously “brand loyal†consumers, we find little empirical evidence supporting these assumptions in the orange juice retail market. There are very few loyal consumers. More...

In the United States, both industry and the federal government have worked to establish voluntary guidelines for how firms market food to children and to establish a threshold for the nutritional quality of foods marketed to children. The authors evaluate three US guidelines that deal with...

California was the first state in the United States to implement a paid family leave (PFL) program in 2004. We use data from the Infant Feeding Practices Study to examine the changes in breastfeeding practices in California relative to other states before and after the implementation of PFL. We...

In response to the growing childhood obesity rate, the Children?s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) was launched in November 2006. Our study presents the fi?rst empirical analysis of the impact of CFBAI on consumers?food choices. We combine monthly data on advertising exposure,...

The three major infant formula manufacturers bid state by state to be the exclusive provider to poor families under the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, and all three compete for non-WIC customers at grocery stores. Previous studies explained the low WIC prices and the higher retail...

Consumers choose from among the varieties of two brands and an outside good using order statistics. We analytically derive demand functions conditional on their valuations of the varieties being distributed independently uniform. Based on this theory, we estimate a threeparameter empirical...

We use a market-level natural experiment to evaluate how the voluntary Facts Up Front style Front-of-Package (FOP) nutritional labeling system would affect consumer choices, and whether it can promote the consumption of healthier food products. The new FOP system provides a quick summary of the...

This paper develops a dynamic oligopoly model of participation in a corporate social responsibility marketing initiative that defines quality standards for products advertised to children. Participation requires that firms either adopt initiative standards by investing in product quality or stop...

This research investigates the effect of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp program) for food insecurity. SNAP provides benefits to qualifying households for purchasing food. Some have suggested that SNAP benefits may be less effective in...