Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2026
09:10
Palatable Western-style Cafeteria Diet as a Reliable Method for Modeling Diet-induced Obesity in Rodents
Published on: November 1, 2019
DO CONSUMER PRICE SUBSIDIES REALLY IMPROVE NUTRITION?
Robert T Jensen1, Nolan H Miller
1UCLA School of Public Affairs, Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, NBER.
The Review of Economics and Statistics
|April 17, 2012
Summary
Food price subsidies in developing countries often fail to improve nutrition. Wealth effects can lead consumers to choose less nutritious, tastier foods, potentially worsening nutritional outcomes despite subsidies.
Area of Science:
- Agricultural Economics
- Development Economics
- Public Health Nutrition
Background:
- Developing countries frequently employ food-price subsidies to enhance population nutrition.
- High budget share subsidies can induce wealth effects, altering consumption patterns.
- Consumer substitution towards non-nutritional attributes may counteract nutritional goals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the impact of large price subsidies on household nutrition in China.
- To investigate whether food subsidies achieve their intended nutritional benefits or have unintended consequences.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from a randomized program of significant price subsidies.
- Focused analysis on poor households in two Chinese provinces.
- Employed econometric analysis to assess nutritional outcomes.
Main Results:
- Found no evidence that the implemented food price subsidies improved household nutrition.
- Observed potential negative nutritional impacts for certain households.
- Indicated that wealth effects may drive substitution away from nutritional goals.
Conclusions:
- Food price subsidies may not be an effective tool for improving nutrition in developing contexts.
- The design of subsidy programs needs to consider potential wealth effects and consumer substitution.
- Further research is needed to understand and mitigate the unintended consequences of food price policies.
Related Concept Videos
01:29Applications of Integration to Find Consumer Surplus
In microeconomics, consumer surplus represents the economic gain that consumers experience when they purchase a good or service for less than the highest price they are willing to pay. This surplus arises from the characteristics of the demand function, which links the quantity of a good to the price consumers are willing to pay. As the quantity of a good increases, the price that consumers are willing to pay for each additional unit typically decreases, resulting in a downward-sloping demand...
02:35Key Elements for Plant Nutrition
Like all living organisms, plants require organic and inorganic nutrients to survive, reproduce, grow and maintain homeostasis. To identify nutrients that are essential for plant functioning, researchers have leveraged a technique called hydroponics. In hydroponic culture systems, plants are grown—without soil—in water-based solutions containing nutrients. At least 17 nutrients have been identified as essential elements required by plants. Plants acquire these elements from the atmosphere, the...
01:27Parentral Nutrition: Centeral and Peripheral Parental Nutrition
Parenteral Nutrition (PN) delivers essential nutrients directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the digestive system. It is commonly used for individuals with severe digestive disorders or conditions that prevent normal nutrient absorption.
PN can be administered through two primary routes:
1. Central Parenteral Nutrition (CPN):
CPN involves delivering a high concentration of nutrients through a large vein. This is typically achieved using a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) or,...
PN can be administered through two primary routes:
1. Central Parenteral Nutrition (CPN):
CPN involves delivering a high concentration of nutrients through a large vein. This is typically achieved using a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) or,...
01:31Confirmation Biases
The confirmation bias is the tendency to focus on information that confirms our existing beliefs and ignore information that is inconsistent with our expectations. For example, if you think that your professor is not very nice, you notice all of the instances of rude behavior exhibited by the professor while ignoring the countless pleasant interactions he is involved in on a daily basis. Have you ever fallen prey to the confirmation bias, either as the source or target of such bias?
01:29Environmental Influences on Intelligence
Despite the strong genetic influence on traits like intelligence, environmental factors significantly shape outcomes. For example, while over 90% of height variation is due to genetic differences, environmental factors such as nutrition also have a notable impact. Similarly, for intelligence, changes in a child's surroundings can significantly alter their IQ. Research shows that enriched environments boost children's academic success and help them develop key cognitive skills. Children from...
01:30Regulation of Food Intake
Short-term regulation of food intake primarily involves neural signals from the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, blood nutrient levels, and GI tract hormones. Communication between the gut and brain via vagal nerve fibers plays a significant role in evaluating the contents of the gut. Clinical studies have shown that protein ingestion produces a more prolonged response in these nerve fibers compared to an equivalent amount of glucose. Additionally, the activation of stretch receptors caused by GI...