(Re)estimating marginal changes after “truncreg” and “tobit” in Stata

In this note I show that a typo in Stata’s help file may have contributed in wrongly estimating marginal changes after truncated and censored regression models. This has significant implications for empirical practice and results from published studies may need to be reconsidered.Stata; mfx; tobit; truncreg; marginal effects; truncated regression; censored regression

Interpreting interaction terms in linear and non-linear models: A cautionary tale

Interaction terms are often misinterpreted in the empirical economics literature by assuming that the coefficient of interest represents unconditional marginal changes. I present the correct way to estimate conditional marginal changes in a series of non-linear models including (ordered) logit/probit regressions, censored and truncated regressions. The linear regression model is used as the benchmark case.interaction terms; ordered probit; ordered logit; truncated regression; censored regression; nonlinear models

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

Estimating risk attitudes in conventional and artefactual lab experiments

We elicit risk preferences from student subjects and subjects drawn from the general population, using the multiple price list method devised by Holt and and Laury (2002). We find that students are less risk averse than general population subjects.Risk aversion, CRRA, expo-power, multiple price list

Estimating risk attitudes in conventional and artefactual lab experiments

We elicit and compare risk preferences from student subjects and subjects drawn from the general population, using the multiple price list method devised by Holt and and Laury (2002). We find evidence suggesting that students have lower relative risk aversion than others.Risk aversion, CRRA, expo-power, multiple price list

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.childhood obesity, child health, overweight

A model of nutrition information search with an application to food labels

Due to the dramatic rise of several diet-related chronic diseases, nutrition information search behaviours have received significant interest from both the scientific and non-scientific literature. No other known paper in economics, however, has examined from a theoretical perspective the acquisition of nutrition information as a health enhancing activity. We modify the standard health capital model (Grossman, 1972) to allow the time spent on nutrition information search to be considered within the context of a time allocation decision. We then collected extensive primary data based on the theoretical model and used these to test the model.nutrition information, food labels, health production

The "more is less" phenomenon in Contingent and Inferred valuation

2011) using the Contingent valuation (CV) as well as the Inferred valuation (IV) method (Lusk and Norwood 2009b). We find that when moving in the context of a familiar market for consumers (i.e., the food market) we only observe weak effects of inconsistencies. In addition, we find that the IV method is no better (and no worse) than the CV method in generating more consistent preference orderings. Surprisingly, we also find that the IV method generates higher valuations than CV, rendering one of its advantages of mitigating social desirability bias questionable.willingness-to-pay (WTP), Contingent Valuation (CV), Inferred Valuation(IV), preference reversals, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, C9, C93, D12, Q51,

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.Nutritional Labels, Body Mass Index, Propensity Score Matching, sensitivity analysis

Game form recognition in preference elicitation, cognitive abilities and cognitive load

This study further examines the failure of game form recognition in preference elicitation (Cason and Plott, 2014) by making elicitation more cognitively demanding through a cognitive load manipulation. We hypothesized that if subjects misperceive one game for another game, then by depleting their cognitive resources, subjects would misconceive the more-cognitively demanding task for the less-cognitively demanding task at a higher rate. We find no evidence that subjects suffer from a first-price-auction game-form misconception but rather that once cognitive resources are depleted, subjects' choices are better explained by random choice. More cognitively able subjects are more immune to deviations from sub-optimal play than lower cognitively able subjects