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Are Restaurants Really Supersizing America?

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  • Anderson, Michael L.
  • Matsa, David A.

Abstract

While many researchers and policymakers infer from correlations between eating out and body weight that restaurants are a leading cause of obesity, a basic identification problem challenges these conclusions. We exploit the placement of Interstate highways in rural areas to obtain exogenous variation in the effective price of restaurants and examine the impact on body mass. We find no causal link between restaurant consumption and obesity. Analysis of food-intake micro-data suggests that consumers offset calories from restaurant meals by eating less at other times. We conclude that regulation targeting restaurants is unlikely to reduce obesity but could decrease consumer welfare.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley in its series Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series with number qt4vm5m5vr.

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Date of creation: 01 Jul 2010
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Handle: RePEc:cdl:agrebk:qt4vm5m5vr

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Keywords: economics of regulation; health production; obesity; fat tax; Agricultural and Resource Economics; Health Professions and Related Programs; Economics;

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References

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  1. Chandra, Amitabh & Thompson, Eric, 2000. "Does public infrastructure affect economic activity?: Evidence from the rural interstate highway system," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 457-490, July.
  2. Lesley Chiou, 2009. "Empirical Analysis of Competition between Wal-Mart and Other Retail Channels," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 285-322, 06.
  3. Shin-Yi Chou & Michael Grossman & Henry Saffer, 2002. "An Economic Analysis of Adult Obesity: Results from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System," NBER Working Papers 9247, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  4. Nicholas E. Piggott, 2003. "The Nested PIGLOG Model: An Application to U.S. Food Demand," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 85(1), pages 1-15.
  5. Darius Lakdawalla & Tomas Philipson, 2002. "The Growth of Obesity and Technological Change: A Theoretical and Empirical Examination," NBER Working Papers 8946, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  6. Angrist, Joshua D, 1990. "Lifetime Earnings and the Vietnam Era Draft Lottery: Evidence from Social Security Administrative Records: Errata," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(5), pages 1284-86, December.
  7. Jessica Wisdom & Julie S. Downs & George Loewenstein, 2010. "Promoting Healthy Choices: Information versus Convenience," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 164-78, April.
  8. Angrist, Joshua D, 1990. "Lifetime Earnings and the Vietnam Era Draft Lottery: Evidence from Social Security Administrative Records," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(3), pages 313-36, June.
  9. McFadden, Daniel, 1974. "The measurement of urban travel demand," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 303-328, November.
  10. Currie, Janet & DellaVigna, Stefano & Moretti, Enrico & Pathania, Vikram, 2009. "The Effect of Fast Food Restaurants on Obesity," Working Papers 47830, American Association of Wine Economists.
  11. Thomas D. Jeitschko & Rowena A. Pecchenino, 2006. "Do You Want Fries with That? An Exploration of Serving Size, Social Welfare, and Our Waistlines," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 44(3), pages 442-450, July.
  12. Darius Lakdawalla & Tomas Philipson & Jay Bhattacharya, 2005. "Welfare-Enhancing Technological Change and the Growth of Obesity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 253-257, May.
  13. Peltzman, Sam, 1975. "The Effects of Automobile Safety Regulation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 83(4), pages 677-725, August.
  14. John L. Park & Rodney B. Holcomb & Kellie Curry Raper & Oral Capps, 1996. "A Demand Systems Analysis of Food Commodities by U.S. Households Segmented by Income," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 78(2), pages 290-300.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Janet Currie & Stefano DellaVigna & Enrico Moretti & Vikram Pathania, 2009. "The Effect of Fast Food Restaurants on Obesity and Weight Gain," NBER Working Papers 14721, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  2. David O. Meltzer & Zhuo Chen, 2009. "The Impact of Minimum Wage Rates on Body Weight in the United States," NBER Working Papers 15485, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  3. Bimbo, Francesco & Viscecchia, Rosaria & Nardone, Gianluca, 2012. "Does the alternative food supply network affect the human health?," 126th Seminar, June 27-29, 2012, Capri, Italy 126060, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
  4. Berning, Joshua P., 2012. "Access to Local Agriculture and Weight Outcomes," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 41(1), April.
  5. Richards, Timothy J. & Mancino, Lisa, 2012. "Demand for Food Away from Home: A Multiple Discrete/Continuous Extreme Value Model," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 127103, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
  6. Bryan Bollinger & Phillip Leslie & Alan Sorensen, 2010. "Calorie Posting in Chain Restaurants," NBER Working Papers 15648, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  7. Li, Lan, 2012. "An Empirical Analysis of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Its Relationship to Adult Obesity in the U.S," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 125002, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
  8. Robert Sandy & Gilbert Liu & John Ottensmann & Rusty Tchernis & Jeffrey Wilson, 2008. "Studying the Child Obesity Epidemic With Natural Experiments," Working Papers wp200801, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Department of Economics.
  9. Courtemanche, Charles & Carden, Art, 2009. "The skinny on big box retailing: Wal-Mart, warehouse clubs, and obesity," MPRA Paper 25326, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  10. Charles J. Courtemanche & Garth Heutel & Patrick McAlvanah, 2011. "Impatience, Incentives, and Obesity," NBER Working Papers 17483, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  11. Chen, Susan E. & Florax, Raymond J.G.M. & Snyder, Samantha D., 2009. "Obesity in Urban Food Markets: Evidence from Geo-referenced Micro Data," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49512, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
  12. Mancino, Lisa & Todd, Jessica E. & Lin, Biing-Hwan, 2009. "Food Away From Home: How much does it really influence diet quality?," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49251, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
  13. Ellison, Brenna D. & Lusk, Jayson L. & Davis, David W., 2012. "The Value and Cost of Restaurant Calorie Labels: Results from a Field Experiment," 2012 AAEA/EAAE Food Environment Symposium, May 30-31, Boston, MA 123529, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
  14. Currie, Janet & DellaVigna, Stefano & Moretti, Enrico & Pathania, Vikram, 2009. "The Effect of Fast Food Restaurants on Obesity," Working Papers 47830, American Association of Wine Economists.
  15. Bonanno, Alessandro & Goetz, Stephan J., 2012. "Food Store Density, Nutrition Education, Eating Habits and Obesity," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IAMA), vol. 15(4).

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