Macroeconomics Seminar - Thijs van Rens (University of Warwick)

Title: Inequality in Diet and Obesity (with Roberto Pancrazi and Marija Vukotic)

Abstract: We explore to what extent higher obesity rates among low-income consumers are due to price differentials between healthy and unhealthy food. Using Nielsen Home Scan data for the US, we document that relative prices are biased against low-income families, and that this difference in relative prices explains over half of the difference in diet. We then set out to explain this observation, and to explore possible interventions to remedy it.