Behavioral Food Subsidies
November 4, 2020 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Missed the seminar? Watch the video here:

Dr. Andy Brownback

Assistant Professor
University of Arkansas

Abstract
We conduct a pre-registered eld experiment with low-income grocery shoppers to study how targeted behavioral interventions can improve the effectiveness of healthy food subsidies. Our unique design enables us to elicit choices and deliver subsidies both before and at the point of purchase. We examine the effects of two non-restrictive changes to the choice environment: giving shoppers a choice over the type of subsidy they receive, and introducing a waiting period before the shopping trip to prompt deliberation about the food purchase decision. Combined, our interventions substantially improve the effectiveness of subsidies, increasing healthy purchases by 61% relative to a choice-less subsidy restricted to healthy food, and 199% relative to an un-subsidized control group. We discuss how these low-cost, scalable interventions can help mitigate nutritional inequality.
(Read a draft of the paper here)

Bio

Andy Brownback, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Arkansas, specializing in behavioral and experimental economics. In his research, Dr. Brownback uses laboratory, field, and online experiments to study questions about education, beliefs, and signaling. His research has been funded by Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL), J-PAL North America, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Arnold Foundation. His research has appeared in the Journal of Political Economy, Games and Economic Behavior, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Economics of Education Review, and Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics.