Publications
Wich, H. and Harris-Lagoudakis, K. (2025). Does SNAP Participation Increase Bulk Purchases? Accepted, Journal of Public Economics. [Published Article]
Harris-Lagoudakis, K., and Wich, H. (2024). Purchases Over the SNAP Benefit Cycle: Evidence from Supermarket Panel Data. Economic Inquiry. [Published Article]
Conlin, M., Dickert-Conlin, S., and Harris-Lagoudakis, K. (2024). Establishment Level Information as Proxies for Demand, Congestion and Social Interaction. Economics Letters, 111833. [Published Article]
Conlin, M., K. Harris-Lagoudakis, C. Haughey, S. Jung, and H. Wich. (2024). The New Normal: Grocery Shopping Behavior Changes before and after the COVID-19 Vaccine. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 1–24. [Published Article]
Harris‐Lagoudakis, K. (2023). The Effect of Online Shopping Channels on Brand Choice, Product Exploration and Price Elasticities. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 102918. [Published Article]
Harris‐Lagoudakis, K. (2022). Online Shopping and the Healthfulness of Grocery Purchases. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 104(3), 1050-1076. [Published Article]
FSN Best Paper Award, AAEA
Top Downloaded AJAE Article 2021
Media Coverage: The Wall Street Journal
Working Papers
Joint with Christian Cox
Revise and Resubmit, Management Science
This paper evaluates demand when making unhealthy products, like soda, ineligible for purchase with in-kind benefits. We utilize policy variation to identify how product specific in-kind eligibility affects the marginal propensity to consume. Difference-in-Difference estimates suggest a 14 to 21 percent decline in soda purchases if soda was made ineligible for purchase with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. We then estimate a model with mental accounting to rationalize observed patterns. We find that soda purchases would decline by 18 percent if soda were made ineligible. In addition, juice purchases would increase by 7 percent, decreasing sugars purchased from beverages.
JEL: D12, I12, I18, I38, L66
Keywords: mental accounting, retail scanner data, SNAP
Joint with Xibo Wan and John Crespi
Shrinkflation has become a favored strategy among food manufacturers to subtly raise the unit price. However, the effectiveness of policies aimed at alerting consumers to these covert unit price hike remains underexplored. Leveraging variation in unit price disclosure regulations across different states, this paper estimates the welfare impact of price per unit disclosure in the context of a coordinated shrinkflation event in the canned tuna industry. Our findings reveal that consumers in states with unit price disclosure regulations are more responsive to unit price changes compared to those in states without such regulations. Our analysis suggests that implementing unit price disclosure regulations would enhance consumer welfare by approximately $10.93 million dollars annually.
JEL: H30, L81, L38
Keywords: attribute disclosure, collusion, greedflation, scanner data, shrinkflation
Select Work in Progress
Removing Cigarettes from the Shelf: Cigarette Access and Smoker Purchasing Behavior
Joint with Mike Conlin, Cara Haughey and Seung Yeon Jung
The Influence of Choice Sets on Purchasing Decisions
Joint with Ben Bushong, Mike Conlin and Andrew Zeyveld