Andreas C. Drichoutis

A theoretical and empirical investigation of nutritional label use

Due in part to increasing diet-related health problems caused, among others, by obesity, nutritional labelling has been considered important, mainly because it can provide consumers with information that can be used to make informed and healthier food choices. Several studies have focused on the empirical perspective of nutritional label use. None of these studies, however, have focused on developing a theoretical economic model that would adequately describe nutritional label use based on a utility theoretic framework. We attempt to fill this void by developing a simple theoretical model of nutritional label use, incorporating the time a consumer spends reading labels as part of the food choice process. The demand equations of the model are then empirically tested. Results suggest the significant role of several variables that flow directly from the model which, to our knowledge, have not been used in any previous empirical work.

An assessment of product class involvement in food‐purchasing behavior

Purpose – This paper sets out to investigate the factors affecting product class involvement for food. Factors affecting specific aspects of involvement are also to be explored. The aim is to determine the factors that affect involvement with food and sketch the profile of consumers more likely to be involved or not involved with food. This paper also seeks to assess the factors affecting the importance attached to different aspects of food such as taste, price, nutrition, ease of preparation, and brand name.Design/methodology/approach – Building on the literature a conceptual model is developed and empirically tested using survey data collected from supermarkets in Athens. Data were analyzed using probit and ordered probit analysis and marginal effects were calculated which show how much the level of involvement or importance is affected when a variable is changed.Findings – This study finds that younger consumers, those with higher education and income who engage in nutritional label use behavior and do...

Eliciting risk and time preferences under induced mood states

We test whether induced mood states have an effect on elicited risk and time preferences. Risk preferences between subjects in the control, positive mood, and negative mood treatments are neither economically nor statistically significant. However, we find that subjects induced into a positive mood exhibit higher discount rates and that subjects under negative mood do not differ significantly with a control group. Results also suggest that irrespective of mood state, introducing a cognitively demanding task before risk preference elicitation increases risk aversion and females are less risk averse when in all-female sessions than when in mixed-gender sessions.

Time preferences and health behaviour: a review

In this paper, we review published studies to assess the influence of time preferences on human health behaviour. Our review indicates that elicited discount rates for health have been found to be higher than those for money in both the social and private context. We discuss the importance of discount rates for public policy since high time discount rates can contribute to governmental emphasis on acute health care, rather than preventive health care. We then examine how time preferences interrelate with specific health concerns such as smoking or obesity. We find that even when time preferences are elicited in the monetary domain, they can be successful in predicting smoking cessation and likewise for obesity. We also discuss how time preferences relate with teen risk taking behavior.JEL codesD91, I0

Can nutritional label use influence body weight outcomes

Nutritional labeling has been of much interest to policy makers and health advocates due to rising obesity trends. So can nutritional label use really help reduce body weight outcomes? This study evaluates the impact of nutritional label use on body weight using the propensity score matching technique. We conducted a series of tests related to variable choice of the propensity score specification, quality of matching indicators, robustness checks, and sensitivity to unobserved heterogeneity using Rosenbaum bounds to validate our propensity score exercise. Our results generally suggest that nutritional label use does not affect body mass index. Implications of our findings are discussed.

THE CAUSES OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY: A SURVEY

Childhood obesity rates are rapidly rising in many countries. Since it is highly likely that obesity will persist into adulthood, current rates undermine the health and future of people in developed as well as developing countries. This public health epidemic carries significant economic, social as well as individual-level consequences and has become a research topic of significant interest for various disciplines including economics. We survey the literature in economics and related disciplines associated with the causes of childhood obesity and synthesize the results to provide a better understanding of the explanations for the rising childhood obesity rates. This is an important step in crafting effective policies to combat global childhood obesity trends.

Food Consumption Patterns in Mediterranean Adolescents: Are There Differences between Overweight and Normal-Weight Adolescents?.

OBJECTIVE To quantify food consumption (based on food group classification) during several time periods in a sample of adolescents and to identify potential differences in food patterns between normal-weight and overweight participants. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. Participants were classified as normal weight and overweight/obese. Dietary intake was assessed by 3-day food records and analyzed at the food group level for 7 different time periods. To exploit the time dimension of the data and to further control for the influence of other covariates, the authors estimated a random effects regression model for panel data. PARTICIPANTS One hundred twenty students. SETTING Two high schools. RESULTS In multivariate analysis, no statistically significant differences were found between normal-weight and overweight adolescents with regard to their consumption patterns throughout the day. However, compared to females, male participants had higher intake of all food groups with the exception of fruit, and adolescents engaging in vigorous exercise tended to consume more servings from all food groups during any given time period. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS No preferential use of some food or food groups in specific day periods was found among overweight compared to normal-weight high school students.

Marginal Changes in Random Parameters Ordered Response Models with Interaction Terms

Marginal changes of interacted variables and interaction terms in random parameters ordered response models are calculated incorrectly in econometric softwares. We derive the correct formulas for calculating these marginal changes. In our empirical example, we observe significant changes not only in the magnitude of the marginal effects but also in their standard errors, suggesting that the incorrect estimation of the marginal effects of these variables as is commonly practiced can render biased inferences on the findings.

Judging statistical models of individual decision making under risk using in- and out-of-sample criteria.

Despite the fact that conceptual models of individual decision making under risk are deterministic, attempts to econometrically estimate risk preferences require some assumption about the stochastic nature of choice. Unfortunately, the consequences of making different assumptions are, at present, unclear. In this paper, we compare three popular error specifications (Fechner, contextual utility, and Luce error) for three different preference functionals (expected utility, rank-dependent utility, and a mixture of those two) using in- and out-of-sample selection criteria. We find drastically different inferences about structural risk preferences across the competing functionals and error specifications. Expected utility theory is least affected by the selection of the error specification. A mixture model combining the two conceptual models assuming contextual utility provides the best fit of the data both in- and out-of-sample.

Food environment and childhood obesity: The effect of dollar stores

In this paper we examine the effect of dollar stores on children’s Body Mass Index (BMI). We use a dataset compiled by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement that reflects a BMI screening program for public school children in the state of Arkansas. We combine propensity score matching with difference-in-differences methods to deal with time-invariant as well time-varying unobserved factors. We find no evidence that the presence of dollar stores within a reasonably close proximity of the child’s residence increases BMI. In fact, we see an increase in BMI when dollar stores leave a child’s neighborhood. Given the proliferation of dollar stores in rural and low-income urban areas, the question of whether dollar stores are contributing to high rates of childhood obesity is policy relevant. However, our results provide some evidence that exposure to dollar stores is not a causal factor.