Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Three Essays On Grocery Sales Taxes, Lingxiao Wang

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Grocery sales taxes represent a stable tax revenue stream for state and municipal government, but there is rare empirical evidence suggesting grocery taxes may adversely affect health. In addition, the how governments set grocery sales taxes is still unclear. Therefore, based on a novel national dataset of annual county and state-level grocery taxes from 2009 through 2016, the following three essays in the dissertation investigate the health impacts of grocery sales taxes and the causes of grocery sales taxes in a framework of tax competition.

In the first essay, we document the spatial and temporal variation in grocery taxes and …

Chain Restaurant Calorie Posting Laws, Obesity, And Consumer Welfare, Charles J. Courtemanche, David Frisvold, David Jimenez-Gomez, Mariétou H. Ouayogodé, Michael Price

Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise Working Papers

The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) introduced a mandate requiring chain restaurants to post calorie counts on menus and menu boards. This paper investigates whether and why calorie posting laws work. To do so, we develop a model of calories consumed that highlights two potential channels through which mandates influence choice and outlines an empirical strategy to disentangle these alternatives. We test the predictions of our model using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to compare changes in body mass index (BMI), obesity, and consumer well-being in locations that implemented calorie-posting laws between 2008 and …

Time Spent Exercising And Obesity: An Application Of Lewbel’S Instrumental Variables Method, Charles J. Courtemanche, Joshua C. Pinkston, Jay Stewart

Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise Working Papers

This paper examines the role physical activity plays in determining body mass using data from the American Time Use Survey. Our work is the first to address the measurement error that arises when time use during a single day—rather than average daily time use over an extended period—is used as an explanatory variable. We show that failing to account for day-to-day variation in activities results in the effects of time use on a typical day being understated. Furthermore, we account for the possibility that physical activity and body mass are jointly determined by implementing Lewbel’s instrumental variables estimator that exploits …

Effects Of The Affordable Care Act On Health Behaviors After Three Years, Charles J. Courtemanche, James Marton, Benjamin Ukert, Aaron Yelowitz, Daniela Zapata

Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise Working Papers

This paper examines the impacts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – which substantially increased insurance coverage through regulations, mandates, subsidies, and Medicaid expansions – on behaviors related to future health risks after three years. Using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and an identification strategy that leverages variation in pre-ACA uninsured rates and state Medicaid expansion decisions, we show that the ACA increased preventive care utilization along several dimensions, but also increased risky drinking. These results are driven by the private portions of the law, as opposed to the Medicaid expansion. We also conduct subsample analyses by …

Early Effects Of The Affordable Care Act On Health Care Access, Risky Health Behaviors, And Self-Assessed Health, Charles J. Courtemanche, James Marton, Benjamin Ukert, Aaron Yelowitz, Daniela Zapata

Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise Working Papers

The goal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was to achieve nearly universal health insurance coverage through a combination of mandates, subsidies, marketplaces, and Medicaid expansions, most of which took effect in 2014. We use data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to examine the impacts of the ACA on health care access, risky health behaviors, and self-assessed health after two years. We estimate difference-in-difference-in-differences models that exploit variation in treatment intensity from state participation in the Medicaid expansion and pre-ACA uninsured rates. Results suggest that the ACA led to sizeable improvements in access to health care in both …

Supermarket Proximity And Price: Food Insecurity And Obesity In The United States, Janelle Downing, Barbara Laraia

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Where we live matters for our health. The social, economic, and physical features of neighborhoods can play a powerful role in health and longevity. Neighborhood concentration of poverty and poor health have been shown to be linked. Residing in low-income neighborhoods has been associated with diet related chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.

American Obesity: Rooted In Uncertainty, Institutions And Public Policy, James Woodward

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

Despite the efforts of policymakers, medical professionals, and other stakeholders, obesity and related health problems show no signs of receding from their record-high rates. Public policy has largely taken the form of consumer advice, (e.g., USDA’s Dietary Guidelines). Since consumers bear most of the costs associated with their obesity, the goal of obesity prevention appears to be incentive-compatible, prima facie. That is, there is no a priori case for much further policy intervention unless existing advice is deficient or consumers’ exhibit systematically poor decision-making.

My review of the literature shows that scholars have long conveyed a consistent narrative regarding …

Snap And Obesity, Craig Gundersen

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

No abstract.

Obesity And The Development Of Complications Across The Life Span: Is There A Relationship Between Obesity And Poverty, Mildred D. Fennal

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between the development of obesity in children ages five to ten years, and poverty (the socio-economic status of the family). Because of the associated complications of obesity such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and hypertension, this research aimed to determine if obesity, a precursor of these diseases, was related to poverty.

The rate of the development of hypertension and diabetes in children and young adults has been steadily increasing over the past ten years (Hines, Fishman, Green, 1999). Therefore, there is an urgent need for continued investigation exploring the multiple …