Paper for presentation at the Northeastern Agricultural & Resource Economics Association’s Workshop on Economics and Child Nutrition Programs, AAEA & NAREA Joint Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 23, 2011.

Although welfare reform began in 1996 at the national level, Iowa was one of the earliest states to obtain a waiver to initiate the Iowa Family Investment Program (FIP) in 1993. To gain a better understanding of welfare recidivism, we use Iowa administrative quarterly data between October1993...

Finisher hog production in North America has seen a shift toward larger production units and contract-organized production since circa 1990. Given the efficiency gains and conversion costs associated with contract production, growers may have to choose between long term commitment through...

Recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Asia, Europe, and Africa have caused severe impacts on the broiler sector through production losses, trade restrictions and negative shocks to demand. This study develops a multimarket econometric model that is the basis of...

We extend the existing literature on food taxes targeting obesity. We systematically incorporatethe implicit substitution between added sugars and solid fats into a comprehensive food demandsystem and evaluate the effect of taxes on sugars and fats. The approach conditions how foodand obesity...

In order to reduce obesity and associated costs, policymakers are considering variouspolicies, including taxes, to change consumers’ high-calorie consumption habits. We investigatetwo tax policies aimed at reducing added sweetener consumption. Both a consumption tax onsweet goods and a...