R e s e a r c h

My research interest lies in the intersection of agricultural and development economics. Areas of my research can be classified into: (1) individual decision-making and behaviors under risk and uncertainty or market failure; risk-coping behaviors of marginalized individuals and households; and (2) role of information and agri-food policy on welfare outcomes, including income and health.

Keywords: food price, risk and uncertainty, migration, food security, poverty, obesity, health, nutrition, agri-food policy, food labeling, development economics, experimental economics.

Peer-Reviewed Publications (* indicates advisee or student):

1. Yu Na Lee, Laura Stortz*, Mike von Massow, and Chris Kimmerer* (2023). “Impact of ‘‘High In” Front‐of‐package Nutrition Labeling on Food Choices: Evidence from a Grocery Shopping Experiment” Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics. Vol 71 (3-4): 277-301.  https://doi.org/10.1111/cjag.12339 

2. David Worden, Getu Hailu, Kate Jones*, & Yu Na Lee (2022). "The Effects of Bundling on Livestock Producers’ Valuation of Traits Available Through Genomic Selection," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics. Vol 70 (4): 263-286.   https://doi.org/10.1111/cjag.12322

3. Rakhal Sarker, Truc Phan*, Yu Na Lee, and Alfons Weersink (2022). “Business Risk Management Program and Risk Balancing in Ontario Hog Sector: An Empirical Analysis.” Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol 70 (4):  287-304.   https://doi.org/10.1111/cjag.12321 

4. Alfons Weersink, Hongyu Chen*, & Martin Beaulieu, and Yu Na Lee (2022). “Dynamics of Farm Entry and Exit in Canada,” Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 51(1), pp 86-104.  https://doi.org/10.1017/age.2021.22 

5. Lee, Yu Na (2021). “Does Commodity Price Volatility Drive Migration? Evidence from Rural Ethiopia,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Vol. 103(4): 1268-1293​. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12199  

6. Bellemare, Marc F., Yu Na Lee, and Lindsey K. Novak (2021). “Contract Farming as a Partial Insurance,” World Development Vol. 140, 105274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105274

7. Marc F. Bellemare, Yu Na Lee, and David R. Just (2020). “Producer Attitudes to Output Price Risk: Experimental Evidence from the Lab and from the Field,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics Vol. 102(3): 806-825. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajae.12004

   • 2020 Best Paper Award in Applied Risk Analysis, Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) Applied Risk Analysis (ARA) Section

   • Experimental Economics Best Young Professional Publication, AAEA Experimental Economics (EXECON) Section 

8. Lee, Yu Na, Nancy Chau, and David R. Just (2019). “Producer Group Participation in the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program for Farmers Before and After the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” Food Policy Vol. 86, 101724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2019.05.007

9. Bellemare, Marc F.  & Yu Na Lee (2016). “Attitudes to Price Risk and Uncertainty: The Earnest Search for Identification and Policy Relevance,” Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics: 64 (4): 599-612.  https://doi.org/10.1111/cjag.12109 

Policy Brief:

• Yu Na Lee, Marc F. Bellemare, and David R. Just (2016). "Experimental Evidence on Attitudes to Price Uncertainty," in Commodity Market Instability and Asymmetries in Developing Countries: Development Impacts and Policies, edited by Alexandros Sarris, pp. 51-54. Ferdi Policy Brief  B137, December 2015. Paris, France: Ferdi. [Link to Page]

Working Papers (* indicates student or advisee):

• Lee, Yu Na, Marc F. Bellemare, and David R. Just. “Experimental Evidence on Producer Behavior in the Face of Price Ambiguity” (Status: Preparing manuscript for submission)

• Impact of Best-before Dates on the Choices of Dairy Products (with Julia Trottier* and Mike von Massow) (Status: Preparing manuscript for submission)

Work in Progress:

• Food Price Shock and Child Marriage (with Monika Bischof* and Brent Swallow)

• On Rice and Weddings: Impacts of Food Assistance on Child Marriage in Indonesia (with Aaron Lorenz* and Nadezhda Baryshnikova )

• Impacts of a warning label and positive claims on healthy food choices (with Laura Stortz* and Mike von Massow) 

• Impacts of food insecurity and socio-economic statuses on healthy food choices (with Laura Stortz*, and Mike von Massow) 

• Estimating Price Risk Preferences with Experimental Data (with Marc F. Bellemare, Chris M. Boyd, and David R. Just)

• Effectiveness of Alternative Approaches to Menu Labelling in Ontario Restaurants: An eye-tracking analysis (with Yeyang Zhang* and Mike von Massow)

Grants (awarded grants):

• Research Grant, Principal Investigator,  “Understanding Nutrition Inequality in Canada,” SSHRC Insight Development Grant (IDG) (59,276 CAD), 2025-2027.

• Research Grant, Principal Investigator,  “Gendered Vulnerability to Food Price Shocks and Uncertainty,” SSHRC Insight Grant (IG) (76,308 CAD), 2025-2028.

• Research Grant, Principal Investigator, “Climate Variability, Food Insecurity, and Child Marriage,” SSHRC Insight Development Grant (IDG) (51,380 CAD), 2021-2023.

• Research Grant, Principal Investigator, “Climate Change, Food Security, and Child Marriage,” SSHRC Institutional Grant (SIG) – Explore Grant, University of Guelph (CAD 4,800), 2021.

• Research Grant, Principal Investigator, “Experimental Evidence on the Effectiveness of Front-of-Package Labeling for Healthy Food Choices,” Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), (CAD 88,000), 2018-2021.

• Travel Grant, Canadian Economics Association (CEA), (CAD 180), 2018

• Research Grant, Center for International Food and Agriculture Policy (CIFAP), (USD 25,000), 2016 (with Marc F. Bellemare)

Awards and Honors:

• Outstanding AJAE Reviewer, 2023

• Experimental Economics Best Young Professional Publication, AAEA Experimental Economics (EXECON) Section (with Marc F. Bellemare (declined) and David R. Just), 2021

• 2020 Best Paper Award in Applied Risk Analysis, Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) (with Marc F. Bellemare (declined) and David R. Just), 2021

• Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award, Honorable Mention, AAEA, 2018

• Hueg-Harrison Fellowship, University of Minnesota (a non-service stipend of $5,259, full tuition, and health benefit), 2016

• Master’s Thesis Award of Merit, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, 2015

• Willis L. and Dorothy L. Peterson Graduate Fellowship, University of Minnesota ($8,206.20 including a non-service stipend, full tuition, and health benefit), 2015

• Outstanding Achievement for Undergraduate Teaching, University of Minnesota, 2014

Last Updated: June 6 2025