Does the Food Stamp Program (FSP), which provides in-kind transfers to low- income Americans, cause female participants to become obese? This question is particularly important because participants are substantially more likely to be obese than are nonparticipants. This paper estimates the...

This study examines legislation that would grant growers termination damages if their contracts are terminated. Our model suggests that, with no contracting frictions, damages would not reduce ex ante efficiency as processors can contract around damages through contract restructuring. Growers...

In China, Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) are a major tool financing health care consumption in urban areas. Whether MSAs control medical expenditures and encourage saving is based on an assumption that enrollees treat the MSA money the same as their pocket money. This assumption has never been...

This article estimates the effects of food stamp benefits on obesity, overweight and body mass index of low-income women. My analysis differs from previous research in three aspects. First, we exploit a rich longitudinal dataset, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, to distinguish...

This paper estimates the production technology of the U.S. computer industry using firm market value to control for the correlation between inputs and unobservable productivity shocks. We show that firm market value can serve as a proxy for unobservable productivity shocks. We also show that...

Using nationally representative rural household panel data from 2003 through 2007 in China, we examine economic gains of cadre status and channels through which cadre status increases household earnings. We find that income of cadre households was approximately 10 percent higher than that of...