The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant changes in where people work, eat and socialise. We use novel data on the food and non-alcoholic drink purchases from stores, takeaways, restaurants and other outlets to quantify the impact of the pandemic on the diets of a large, representative panel...

This paper develops a conceptual framework that can explain why economic development goes along with increases in body weight and obesity rates. We first introduce the concept of novelty consumption, which refers to an increase in food availability due to trade or innovation. Then we study how...

This paper develops a conceptual framework that can explain why economic development goes along with increases in body weight and obesity rates. We first introduce the concept of novelty consumption, which refers to an increase in food availability due to trade or innovation. Then we study how...

I present some estimates for India that demonstrate that structural changes in the impact of income on food demand have been significant factors driving the changes in dietary patterns in this rapidly growing economy. A Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System is estimated for six food groups. The...

In the last decades global food value chains have seen the need for increasing vertical coordination in order to secure quality standards. A prominent way to govern the relationships between farmers and agri-business firms are farming contracts. We study the role of trust, risk and time...

Ensuring a sufficient level of food for the population in both quantitative and qualitative terms is a priority for most countries as well as for governmental and non-governmental bodies – be they national, regional or international. The United Nations (UN) stresses the fact that one of the...

The state of global food security has been considerably improved in the last decades; however, these achievements are attributable to the “green revolutions” in Latin-America and Asia. The food shortage has remained persistent in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the proliferation of...

Some food items that are commonly considered unhealthy also tend to elicit impulsive responses. The pain of paying in cash can curb impulsive urges to purchase such unhealthy food products. Credit card payments, in contrast, are relatively painless and weaken impulse control. Consequently,...