Publications
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
Liquidity Constraints and Buying in Bulk: Does SNAP Adoption Increase Bulk Purchases?
Joint with Hannah Wich
Revise and Resubmit, Journal of Public Economics
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) issues monthly lump-sum payments. In theory, these payments help households overcome liquidity constraints and allow households to purchase bulk items. Purchasing products in bulk sizes decreases unit prices and can increase consumption while holding expenditures constant. Using novel retailer panel data, this is the first study to investigate the effect of participating in SNAP on bulk purchasing behavior using within-household variation. To estimate a causal relationship between SNAP participation and bulk purchases, we use the timing of program recertification as a source of exogenous variation in the decision to participate in SNAP. We find that adopting SNAP increases the expenditure share of bulk purchases for all groceries by five percentage points. This finding suggests that relaxing budget constraints enables households to exploit savings from shopping efforts that require lump-sum liquidity. Savings calculations suggest that the increase in bulk purchases triggered by SNAP adoption generate significant savings.
JEL: D12, D14, I38
Keywords: consumption, liquidity constraints, SNAP participation, bulk discounts, retail scanner data
Joint with Christian Cox
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. Differe-in-Difference estiamtes 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
Select Work in Progress
Shrinkflation, Unit Price Disclosure and Consumer Welfare: Evidence from Canned Tuna
Joint with John Crespi and Xibo Wan
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