Are Restaurants Really Supersizing America?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Anderson, Michael L.; Matsa, David A.
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Berkeley; Northwestern University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.3.1.152
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 152-188
• 关键词: fast-food restaurants; interstate highway system; energy-intake; adult obesity; us obesity; dietary; COMPENSATION; consumption; PREVALENCE; demand

摘要

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. (JEL I12, I18, L51, L66)