The Geography of Poverty and Nutrition: Food Deserts and Food Choices across the United States

Hunt Allcott, Rebecca Diamond and Jean-Pierre Dube
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Hunt Allcott: New York University
Jean-Pierre Dube: University of Chicago

Research Papers from Stanford University, Graduate School of Business

Abstract: We study the causes of "nutritional inequality": why the wealthy tend to eat more healthfully than the poor in the U.S. Using two event study designs exploiting entry of new supermarkets and households' moves to healthier neighborhoods, we reject that neighborhood environments have economically meaningful effects on healthy eating. Using a structural demand model, we find that exposing low-income households to the same food availability and prices experienced by high-income households would reduce nutritional inequality by only 9%, while the remaining 91% is driven by differences in demand. In turn, these income-related demand differences are partially explained by education, nutrition knowledge, and regional preferences. These findings contrast with discussions of nutritional inequality that emphasize supply-side issues such as food deserts.

JEL-codes: D12 I12 I14 L81 R20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-hea, nep-pke and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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