Andreas Drichoutis

When a risky prospect is valued more than its best possible outcome

Andreas C. Drichoutis et al. — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:37:21 PST

In this paper, we document a violation of normative and descriptive models of decision making under risk. In contrast to uncertainty effects found by Gneezy, List and Wu (2006), some subjects in our experiments valued lotteries more than the best possible outcome. We show that the overbidding effect is more strongly related to individuals’ competitiveness traits than comprehension of the lottery’s payoff mechanism.

The causes of childhood obesity: A survey

Georgia Papoutsi et al. — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:11:35 PST

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 in 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.

Repeated Rounds with Price Feedback in Experimental Auction Valuation: An Adversarial Collaboration

Jay R. Corrigan et al. — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 08:28:25 PDT

It is generally thought that market outcomes are improved with the provision of market information. As a result, the use of repeated rounds with price feedback has become standard practice in the applied experimental auction valuation literature. We conducted two experiments to determine how rationally subjects behave with and without price feedback in a second price auction. Results from an auction for lotteries show that subjects exposed to price feedback are significantly more likely to commit preference reversals. However, this irrationality diminishes in later rounds. Results from an induced value auction indicate that price feedback caused greater deviations from the Nash equilibrium bidding strategy. Our results suggest that while bidding on the same item repeatedly improves auction outcomes (i.e., reduced preference reversals or bids closer to induced values), this improvement is not the result of price feedback.

A consistent econometric test for bid interdependence in repeated second-price auctions with posted prices

Andreas C. Drichoutis et al. — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 23:40:20 PST

In repeated second-price experimental auctions, the winning bid is normally posted after each round. The posting of these winning prices after each round can result in bids submitted in later rounds to be interdependent with posted prices from earlier rounds. Several approaches in the past have tried to scrutinize their experimental data for value interdependence by regressing bids on lagged market prices or lagged bids and ignoring the inherent endogeneity problem. This paper introduces a formal test for bid interdependence in repeated second-price auctions with posted prices using a dynamic panel model. We then apply this test to formally check the presence of bid interdependence in three datasets used in previous studies.

Food away from home expenditures and obesity among older Europeans: Are there gender differences?

Andreas C. Drichoutis et al. — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 07:27:23 PST

Older people (i.e., at least 50 years old) are becoming one of the most important demographic groups in the world. We explore the effect of food away from home expenditures on obesity among the older population in Europe using instrumental variable methods. Several statistical tests were conducted to assess endogeneity of selected variables, the exogeneity, relevance, and validity of instruments used. Our results generally suggest that food-away-from-home expenditure has no statistically significant effect on body mass index (BMI) of older males but is negatively related to BMI of older females.

The role of training in experimental auctions

Andreas Drichoutis et al. — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 07:11:50 PDT

Do reference values matter? Some notes and extensions on “Income and Happiness across Europe”

Andreas C. Drichoutis et al. — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 09:41:49 PST

We add to the analysis conducted in an article in this journal authored by Caporale, Georgellis, Tsitsianis and Yin (2009) (hereafter CGTY) which assessed the relationship between subjective well-being, income and relative income in Europe. Specifically, we note some data management, model/variable specification, and econometric issues that can affect the validity of the findings of CGTY. We then present our own augmented model to test the robustness of the results from the CGTY study. When we try to replicate CGTY’s estimation, we find that the main variable of interest i.e. the reference income variable, reverts sign. We also find several differences in our results, the most important of which is that, in contrast to CGTY’s result that suggests a statistically significant negative reference income effect on life satisfaction, reference income does not really significantly affect life satisfaction in our estimations.

Nutritional Labeling

Andreas C. Drichoutis et al. — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:38:34 PST

This chapter presents some of the recent issues and studies related to nutritional information/label use. Specifically, we discuss the regulatory environment surrounding nutritional labels as well as theoretical and econometric modeling of nutrition information, key findings of recent studies on consumers’ use of nutrition information and its effects on consumer behavior, dietary intakes, and health outcomes. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the importance of nutritional labels as a policy instrument and the need for more marketing and economics research in the area of nutritional labeling.

Marginal changes in random parameters ordered response models with interaction terms

Andreas C. Drichoutis et al. — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:42:11 PST

Marginal changes of interacted variables and interaction terms in random parameters ordered response models are calculated incorrectly in econometric softwares. We derive the correct formulas for calculating these marginal changes. In our empirical example, we observe significant changes not only in the magnitude of the marginal effects but also in their standard errors, suggesting that the incorrect estimation of the marginal effects of these variables as is commonly practiced can render biased inferences on the findings.

The role of training in experimental auctions

Andreas C. Drichoutis et al. — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:14:22 PST

Experimental auctions have become a popular tool used by applied economists to elicit people’s willingness to pay (WTP) for certain goods due to their demand revealing properties. Participating in experimental auctions is, however, often a dubious task for unfamiliar subjects. While most subjects are probably familiar with the structure of an English auction, they most likely have never participated in a Vickrey auction typically used in experimental auctions. This is the reason why most experimenters employ a training phase that precedes the actual valuation task. In this paper, we examine the effect of training on bidding behavior and find that training significantly increases bids. Implications are discussed.

Food consumption patterns in Mediterranean adolescents: Are there differences between overweight and normal weight adolescents?

Yannakoulia Mairy et al. — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:01:41 PST

The aim of the present analysis was to quantify food consumption based on food group classification during several time-periods of the day in a sample of adolescents and to identify potential differences in food patterns between normal weight and overweight participants. Nutritional assessment was conducted in 120 high-school students. BMI was used to classify participants as normal weight and overweight/obese. Dietary intake was assessed by 3-day food records, and was analyzed at the food group level for seven different day time-periods. In order to exploit the time dimension of our data and to further control for the influence of other covariates, we estimated a random effects regression model for panel data. In the multivariate analysis, no statistically significant differences were found between normal weight and overweight adolescents in regards to their consumption patterns throughout the day. However, male participants, compared to females, had higher intake of all food groups with the exception of fruit and adolescents engaging in vigorous exercise tended to consume more servings from all food groups at any given time period. We concluded that overall food consumption, and not its distribution throughout the day or in specific time intervals, may be the underlying dietary factor of overweight adolescents in our sample.

Season-related variation in dietary recalls used in a paediatric population

Mary Yannakoulia et al. — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:07:43 PST

Objective: To evaluate variation in energy, macronutrient and selected micronutrient intake between two seasons, spring/summer and fall/winter, in children and adolescents aged 3-18 year old. Methods and Subjects: A randomly selected subgroup (n = 623) of a representative sample of Greek children and adolescents was used in the present study. Information on participants’ socio-demographic, anthropometric and lifestyle characteristics were collected through telephone interviews. Dietary assessment was based on two 24-hr recalls (the first during the spring/summer season and second six months later, during fall/winter season). Results: Reported energy intake in spring/summer was 82 ± 31 kcal higher compared to the one in fall/winter after adjusting for potential confounders (p=0.008). However, the contribution of the macronutrients to the total energy intake was not statistically different between the two periods and the same was also true for vitamin C and calcium. The results remained unchanged after excluding low energy reporters. Conclusions: One 24-hr recall is able to provide similar information as the one obtained from two recalls in two different seasons of the year, with regard to macronutrient contribution to daily energy intake, calcium and vitamin C intake in children and adolescents. The use of a second 24-h recall in a different season of the year seems to be justified only in the light of more accurate assessment of the daily energy intake.

Nutritional label users’ ability to perform nutrition tasks as a dietary consumption constraint

Andreas C. Drichoutis et al. — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:35:19 PST

We examine how ability to perform nutrition related tasks (i.e. tasks that involve extracting information from the label or use the label for dietary management tasks), among nutritional label users, may affect diet quality. We view the inability to perform nutrition tasks as a constraint in improving the dietary quality of individuals. We then consider the simultaneous determination of the ability to perform nutrition tasks and diet quality by using a simultaneous equation model. Our results suggest that ability to perform nutrition related tasks does not affect dietary quality, although this finding is insignificant at the margin. We also find that several demographic factors can affect ability to perform tasks as well as diet quality. Consumer welfare and public policy implications are also discussed.

Body weight outcomes and food expenditures among older Europeans: A simultaneous equation approach

Andreas C. Drichoutis et al. — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:16:27 PDT

We analyze the inter-relationships between body weight outcomes and food expenditures among older Europeans using a simultaneous equation model. Several statistical tests were conducted to assess endogeneity of selected variables, the exogeneity, relevance, and validity of instruments used, and the identification of the model. Our results generally suggest, contrary to normative views, that food-away-from-home expenditure is negatively related to body mass index (BMI). BMI is negatively related to the percentage of food spent away from home.

Body weight outcomes and food expenditures among older Europeans: A simultaneous equation approach

Andreas C. Drichoutis et al. — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:35:08 PDT

Nutritional label use, body weight outcomes and self selectivity: A propensity score matching approach

Andreas Drichoutis et al. — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 09:01:34 PDT

Can nutritional label use influence body weight outcomes?

Andreas Drichoutis et al. — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 08:55:05 PDT

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.

Can nutritional label use influence body weight outcomes?

Andreas Drichoutis et al. — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:22:54 PDT

Testing for bid affiliation in repeated second-price auctions with posted prices

Andreas Drichoutis et al. — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:31:11 PDT

In repeated second-price experimental auctions, the winning bid is normally posted after each round. The posting of these winning prices after each round can result in bids submitted in later rounds to be affiliated with posted prices from earlier rounds. This paper introduces a formal test for bid affiliation in repeated second-price auctions with posted prices using a dynamic panel model. We then apply this test to formally check the presence of bid affiliation effects in three datasets used in previous studies.

Testing for bid affiliation in repeated second-price auctions with posted prices

Andreas Drichoutis et al. — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:25:13 PDT

In repeated second-price experimental auctions, the winning bid is normally posted after each round. The posting of these winning prices after each round can result in bids submitted in later rounds to be affiliated with posted prices from earlier rounds. This paper introduces a formal test for bid affiliation in repeated second-price auctions with posted prices using a dynamic panel model. We then apply this test to formally check the presence of bid affiliation effects in three datasets used in previous studies.