Papers by Eliana Zeballos
Review of Economics of the Household, Jun 13, 2022
The emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus in the U.S. were quickly followed by a widespre... more The emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus in the U.S. were quickly followed by a widespread expansion in remote work eligibility, which, in turn, led to necessary alignments between pre-existing household management schedules and new home-based work schedules for many of those who worked from home (WFH) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use 24-hour time diary data from the 2010-2020 American Time Use Survey to examine how major daily time allocations of those who WFH changed during the pandemic compared with those who worked away from home (WAFH). Before the pandemic, we find that those who WFH spent significantly less time working, commuting to work, grooming, and eating away from home, but significantly more time sleeping, socializing, relaxing, doing housework, caring for children, shopping, preparing food, and eating at home. During the pandemic, we find generally small and statistically insignificant changes in the time allocations of those who WAFH, but several large and significant changes in uses of time for those who WFH. A noteworthy intra-pandemic increase was in time devoted to labor market work by those who WFH, which almost halved the prepandemic WAFH-WFH difference. Results also show large and significant reductions in time devoted to other activities during the pandemic, including work-related travel, socializing, doing housework, shopping, shopping-related travel, and eating away from home. The intra-pandemic redistribution of time by those who WFH may have health and quality-of-life implications that should be assessed as the pandemic subsides and WFH becomes a more common feature of post-pandemic life.
Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, May 3, 2021
Cover is a derivative of images from Getty Images. Use of commercial and trade names does not imp... more Cover is a derivative of images from Getty Images. Use of commercial and trade names does not imply approval or constitute endorsement by USDA. To ensure the quality of its research reports and satisfy governmentwide standards, ERS requires that all research reports with substantively new material be reviewed by qualified technical research peers. This technical peer review process, coordinated by ERS' Peer Review Coordinating Council, allows experts who possess the technical background, perspective, and expertise to provide an objective and meaningful assessment of the output's substantive content and clarity of communication during the publication's review. In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Jul 1, 2015
Accumulating research has shown that individuals' welfare is affected not only by the absolute am... more Accumulating research has shown that individuals' welfare is affected not only by the absolute amount of resources at their command but also, by their relative position visa -vis others. Individuals' concerns about their relative positions may influence individuals' choices and affect their behavior. For example, upward interpersonal comparisons may spur individuals to reduce consumption gaps by increasing effort or investment to "catch-up" or by "pulling-down" others through destructive actions. "Pulling down" other more successful individuals may have both direct and indirect detrimental effects on productivity and efficiency. On one hand, welfare is reduced directly as the other's output is destroyed and one's resources are consumed. In addition, the threat of destructive actions may lead to lower levels of effort and investment. In order to empirically examine how interpersonal comparisons affect effort levels, the prevalence of destructive actions, and how the threat of destructive actions affect effort levels; I designed a set of behavioral games that build on the two-stage "money burning" game. I introduce a simple effort task in the first stage. Specifically, earnings depend on the number of beans individuals separate from a container full of beans and rice. The experimental games were carried out in Bolivia among 285 dairy farmers. I find that when destructive actions are not allowed, positional concerns matter for the bottom half of the earnings distribution. When rankings were revealed to the participants, those below the group mean earnings increased their effort by 7.5%. When I allow for destructive actions, 55% of people are willing to forego higher own-consumption in order to "destroy" others' output; 58% were victims to destructive action and lost on average 34% of their earnings. There is an asymmetry in direction of destruction, 98.3% of the highest earners suffered some destruction, while only 23.7% of the lowest earners were victims to destruction actions. Finally, the threat of destructive actions reduced highest earners' effort by 6%.
Cover image: Getty images. Use of commercial and trade names does not imply approval or constitut... more Cover image: Getty images. Use of commercial and trade names does not imply approval or constitute endorsement by USDA. To ensure the quality of its research reports and satisfy governmentwide standards, ERS requires that all research reports with substantively new material be reviewed by qualified technical research peers. This technical peer review process, coordinated by ERS' Peer Review Coordinating Council, allows experts who possess the technical background, perspective, and expertise to provide an objective and meaningful assessment of the output's substantive content and clarity of communication during the publication's review. In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, Feb 1, 2021
Some rights reserved 1 2 3 4 18 17 16 15 This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank wi... more Some rights reserved 1 2 3 4 18 17 16 15 This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Nothing herein shall constitute or be considered to be a limitation upon or waiver of the privileges and immunities of The World Bank, all of which are specifically reserved.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Feb 17, 2023
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas, 2021
This article investigates the effects of economic recessions and changes in local economic condit... more This article investigates the effects of economic recessions and changes in local economic conditions on the growth of food-at-home and food-away-from-home sales at the county level and estimates the likely impacts of the COVID-19-induced recession on food sales. On average, we show the recessionary effects of COVID-19 increased the growth of food-at-home sales by 1.4 percentage points and decreased the growth of food-away-from-home sales by 0.6 percentage points. In comparison, we also show that the recessionary effects of COVID-19 on food sales are small compared to the pandemic and public health effects of COVID-19 on food sales.
Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, 2020
Journal of behavioral and experimental economics, Oct 1, 2018
Abstract Interpersonal comparisons can lead individuals to improve their relative position by &qu... more Abstract Interpersonal comparisons can lead individuals to improve their relative position by "catching up" to their peers through increased effort, or by "pulling down" others through harmful actions. To empirically examine how interpersonal comparisons affect productivity, this study utilizes a lab-in-the-field experiment that was conducted in Bolivia among 285 dairy farmers. The experiment consists of a baseline effort-elicitation and three treatments. The first treatment reveals to participants their baseline rankings; the second treatment allows participants to pay to destroy the output of others in their group; and the third treatment introduces inequity by placing a randomly-chosen group member into a more favorable production setting. This paper reports three main findings. First, in the absence of destructive actions, low-productivity participants increase their productivity whereas high-productivity participants decrease their productivity. Second, more than half of the participants are willing to give up their earnings to destroy the output of their peers. Finally, those who were placed into a more favorable production setting have a 29% higher probability of being destroyed by somebody in their group, showing evidence of destructive actions being motivated by a sense of fairness.
Appetite, Oct 1, 2020
In this research, we tested the effect of a novel method of presenting calorie information-highli... more In this research, we tested the effect of a novel method of presenting calorie information-highlighting relative differences in calories among ingredients. We conducted an online hypothetical food choice experiment where 633 participants selected the ingredients for a sandwich from five categories: meat/protein, cheese, spread/dressing, bread, and vegetables. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of four calorie information conditions: 1) a condition in which no information about calories was provided, 2) a condition in which calorie information was provided for each ingredient, 3) a condition in which calorie information was presented relative to the highest calorie item, and 4) a condition in which calorie information was presented relative to the lowest calorie item. Participants in the high- and low-calorie reference conditions ordered between 32 and 36 fewer calories per sandwich than participants in the no-calorie information control condition (p ≤ 0.04). Calories ordered by participants in the per-item calorie condition were not significantly different than the control. Presenting relative calorie or other nutritional information to make health-related trade-offs more salient may guide consumers to make healthier choices.
Preventive medicine reports, Dec 1, 2018
Providing calorie labeling is a widely used strategy to combat obesity. However, there is little ... more Providing calorie labeling is a widely used strategy to combat obesity. However, there is little evidence that the availability of calorie information at food-away-from-home establishments has an effect on food choices. Listing calorie information for each ingredient, though, may allow customers to avoid high-calorie items that add little to their enjoyment. Data from a natural experiment were used to compare total calories ordered before and after the provision of per-ingredient versus for build-your-own sandwiches, and per-sandwich for pre-defined sandwiches, at a supermarket sandwich counter. Sandwich order slips from a Lincoln, Neb. supermarket were collected from December 15, 2016 to February 4, 2018. In June 2017, calorie information was introduced. A total of 1134 build-your-own orders and 559 predefined orders were collected. Calories ordered before and after the provision of calorie information were examined for build-your-own and pre-defined sandwiches using two-sample t-tests. Orders post-calorie information were split into three periods to examine whether responses to information changed over time. Ingredients ordered were also examined before and after information was provided. Customers decrease calories ordered by 7.8% for build-your-own sandwiches when per-ingredient calorie information is introduced. There is no significant change in calories ordered for pre-defined sandwiches. Calorie reduction appears to result from substitution away from some higher calorie items, e.g., mayonnaise, towards lower calorie ingredients, like mustard. Despite low calorie content, customers did not increase the number of vegetables ordered. Finally, there is no attenuation of the effect of calorie information over time.
Appetite, Oct 1, 2019
Studies of the effect of calorie information on food choices in food-away-from-home settings have... more Studies of the effect of calorie information on food choices in food-away-from-home settings have identified minor to insignificant changes in calories ordered. An element of the choice process that may play an important role in influencing the total caloric content of a meal has received little attention: how individuals track the total number of calories selected when choosing multiple items. We study the effects of automating this potentially costly cognitive process using technology. We compare the number of calories ordered in a sequential food choice task in two conditions: one in which participants have access to calorie information for all options available and a second in which they are also exposed to automatically updating information about the number of calories they have ordered. Participants with access to calorie summation ordered significantly fewer calories than those without access to calorie summation. Participants without access to calorie summation significantly underestimated the number of calories they had ordered, while those in the calorie summation condition did not. The calorie summation seems to work in part through adjustment of sequential choices: calories ordered in the first choice category were very similar in the two conditions but diverged increasingly in later categories. Technologies that help individuals keep track of the nutritional consequences of cumulative choices may help promote healthier diets.
Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, Apr 6, 2020
Analyzing how much time people devote to shopping for and preparing food can provide insights int... more Analyzing how much time people devote to shopping for and preparing food can provide insights into behaviors that may afect their diets and, in turn, their health. For example, more time in the grocery sore could indicate greater attention to product labels and healthier selections. When people prepare meals from scratch, they have greater control over the amount of salt, sugars, and fats used in the dishes. With home-prepared meals, people can align ingredients and cooking methods with their nutrition objectives. ERS researchers used national satisics from the 2004-17 American Time Use Survey, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statisics, to see if the time Americans spent in food-related activities varied between 2004-07 and 2014-17. The survey asked one individual age 15 and older in each surveyed household about his or her use of time over a 24-hour day, beginning at 4 a.m. on the day before the interview and ending at 4 a.m. on the interview day. The researchers found that on average, Americans spent 4.1 more minutes per day preparing food in 2014-17 than in 2004-07, and the gender disparity in food preparation lessened somewhat. These results and all other diferences discussed in this article are satisically signifcant.
Review of Economics of the Household, Aug 22, 2020
Telecommuting has been on the rise in the U.S. and working from home may affect how workers alloc... more Telecommuting has been on the rise in the U.S. and working from home may affect how workers allocate their time over the course of a day. In this paper, using a seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) framework, we examine differences in time spent in major activities between individuals who worked from home and away from home. We use data on prime working-age adults (age 25-54 years old) who participated in the 2017-18 Leave and Job Flexibilities Module of the American Time Use Survey. Results show that prime working-age American adults who worked from home during their diary day spent less time working and on personal care, but more time on leisure, sleeping, and on food production and consumption than those who worked away from home. For instance, among individuals with a spouse or partner present, those who worked from home spent 25 more minutes engaged in food production and 48 more minutes eating and drinking at home than did individuals who worked away from home, which are large relative to the sample averages of 33 and 31 min, respectively. These results show that there is important variation in the daily time allocation of workers in their prime working years and suggest in particular that working from home may allow for substantially more time to produce food and consume food at home, which may provide teleworkers with health benefits since home-produced meals tend to be lower in calories and higher in nutrients than meals prepared away from home.
Applied economic perspectives and policy, Oct 13, 2021
This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has... more This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as
The USDA, Economic Research Service's (ERS) Food Expenditure Series (FES) is a comprehensive ... more The USDA, Economic Research Service's (ERS) Food Expenditure Series (FES) is a comprehensive measure of the total value of food acquired in the United States over time. FES provides users with data to evaluate changes in food spending and its composition; however, FES is limited to the national level. This report presents the methodology and data used to generate food expenditure estimates at the State level. The State-level FES follows a similar methodology used in the national level but with a different underlying dataset and benchmarked to the national-level estimates. The national-level estimates are based primarily on food sales reported in the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census' Economic Census, which is published every 5 years, and uses three annual surveys to interpolate between years and extrapolate lagged data forward. The State-level FES estimates are based primarily on sales reported in the National Establishment Time Series Database. The database provides time-series data at the establishment level across all sectors, including grocery stores and food service outlets. The State-level FES can be used by government agencies, academics, the public, and other stakeholders to understand differences in consumer food acquisitions and spending behavior at a more granular level.
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Papers by Eliana Zeballos