This paper attempts to understand the mechanism of an upward trend in wine consumption in Japan by analysing its trend and possible correlations with food-related consumptions. Through the panel and time-series analyses of wine consumption and food-item expenditures, and of wine consumption and...

In this paper, we examine the effect of food prices on clinical measures of obesity, including body mass index (BMI) and percentage body fat (PBF) measures derived from bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), among youths ages 12 through 18. The...

Anthropologists have long documented substantial and persistent differences across so- cial groups in the preferences and taboos for particular foods. One natural question to ask is whether such food cultures matter in an economic sense. In particular, can culture constrain caloric intake and...

Elementary consumer theory assumes that prices affect demand only because they affect the budget constraint (BC). By contrast, several models suggest that prices can affect demand through other channels (e.g. because they signal quality). This alternative conjecture is consistent with evidence...

This paper explores the effects of relative food prices on body weight and body fat over time in China. We study a cohort of 15,000 adults from over 200 communities in China, using the longitudinal China Health and Nutrition Survey (1991-2006). While we find that decreases in the price of...

As food is an experience good, the market for restaurant meals is a market where the cost of acquiring information regarding quality is relatively high. In such markets consumers often turn to reputation measures to guide purchase decisions. As Australia does not have a longstanding cuisine...

This paper provides field evidence on the effects of diet on educational outcomes, exploiting a campaign lead in the UK in 2004, which introduced drastic changes in the meals, offered in the schools of one Borough – Greenwich - shifting from low-budget processed meals towards healthier...

We investigate the health consequences of changes in the supply of fast food using the exact geographical location of fast food restaurants. Specifically, we ask how the supply of fast food affects the obesity rates of 3 million school children and the weight gain of over 1 million pregnant...