CURRICULUM VITAE

RESEARCH

Works in Progress

+/- Abstract

When voters approve a policy that raises the price of a good they regularly buy, they trade off pocketbook costs against the policy’s social benefits. I introduce a revealed-preference strategy combining market purchases (Nash equilibrium) and votes (Lindahl equilibrium) to disentangle egotropic (use) and sociotropic (non-use, public-good) values, applied to California's Proposition 12 (2018) which banned caged-egg sales. Non-use value accounts for at least 59\% of voter benefits (\$9 of \$15 per year). Instrumenting for cost reveals economically significant pocketbook sensitivity masked by omitted-variable bias in standard estimates, reconciling pocketbook and sociotropic motives as components of the same preferences.

(with Zach Freitas-Groff and Carl Meyer)
[Forthcoming: European Economic Review]

+/- Abstract

Over the past two decades, U.S. meat consumption has remained high while purchases of plant-based alternatives have grown, raising questions about whether consumer behavior is shifting. Answering this question is difficult: surveys overstate meat avoidance due to social-desirability bias, and aggregated data obscure heterogeneity across households and regions. To address these challenges, we use a nationally representative household panel (2004–2020) linked with ingredient-level product data and develop a machine learning–based classification of grocery purchases. We show that, despite modest growth in aggregate meat purchases, the share of households buying no meat rises by about 10\% and the share buying no animal products nearly doubles--revealing growing polarization in dietary behavior. These patterns predate the introduction of modern plant-based meat alternatives, whose limited market share cannot explain the observed changes. Demographic analyses indicate that growing meat- and animal product-avoidance is driven largely by population turnover rather than behavioral change within existing consumers. Our findings reconcile persistently high aggregate meat consumption with the increasing visibility of meat avoidance.

Media coverage: Vox

(with Matthew Wibbenmeyer)

+/- Abstract

Do wildfires alter local demographics? Employing event study and difference-in-differences strategies, we study the effect of 192 large wildfire events (2016-2018) on nearby house transaction prices and quantities to identify heterogeneity in real estate market responses across Fire Hazard Severity Zones (FHSZ) mapped by the state in 2011.  We find that post-wildfire sellers in "very high" FHSZ have significantly lower incomes than before, whereas post-wildfire sellers outside of any FHSZ (non-FHSZ) have the same income levels as before. Meanwhile, post-wildfire buyers have lower incomes than before regardless of zone. Controlling for house characteristics, home prices in  "very high" FHSZ are unaffected by a nearby fire, however the types of homes sold in these areas after a fire are of a significantly lower quality relative to before. In contrast, home prices in non-FHSZ areas decrease after a nearby fire by more than 14 percent and remain low for at least a year, but the quality of  homes sold in these areas remains the same as before. We rationalize these findings by calibrating a model of seller/buyer behavior that incorporates decreasing relative risk aversion and treats wildfires as information shocks.

(with Christoph Semken)

+/- Abstract

Many consumers engage in ethical consumption, altering their consumption choices so as to mitigate their personal contributions to negative externalities such as climate change, animal welfare, or pollution. But do individual consumption choice have any impact on overall externalities in a competitive market? In this paper, we estimate the effect of consumption changes on externalities in general equilibrium for the U.S. meat market. We derive sufficient statistics based on the demand and supply cross-price elasticities of all goods with externalities. We estimate the cross-price elasticities using home scanner data and farmer surveys, respectively, and derive the effect of ethical meat consumption on animal welfare. We further show that the effect on other externalities can be estimated using bounding assumptions on substitution patterns. Using such assumptions, we additionally estimate the effect of ethical meat consumption on overall greenhouse gas emissions

Published Work

(with Sharon Pailler, Jon McFadden, Sharon Raszap, Zach Raff, Kevin Kuruc)

+/- Abstract

Public interest in improving farm animal welfare has increased in recent years, but research on implementation lags behind. This review examines the incentives and barriers to adoption from the perspective of key stakeholders: farmers and other animal product producers. We perform a machine-learning aided scoping review of the academic literature studying how different rearing practices influence outcomes for producers, providing direct evidence on the (dis-)incentives of adopting the practices studied. This allows us to (1) identify existing consensus and (2) highlight research gaps on this question. Operating costs emerge as a near-universal disincentive for welfare-improving practices. Conversely, improved indoor environment shows potential benefits for animal health and productivity, suggesting the possibility of interventions that have only negligible impacts on overall profits. These takeaways are drawn from a relatively sparse literature, underscoring important research gaps. Addressing these gaps can inform evidence-based policies that align practice with public expectations for farm animal welfare while being cognizant of producer constraints and incentives.

(with Alex Hoagland)

Other Work

(with Ethan Ligon)

TEACHING

Econ 198: Economic Tools for Effective Altruism
UC Berkeley
Course creator and facilitator (Fall 2021-Fall 2024)

EEP/Econ 102: Natural Resource Economics
UC Berkeley
Graduate Student Instructor (Fall 2021)

Econ 110: Introduction to Economics
Brigham Young University
Teaching Assistant (Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016)

CONTACT ME

Copyright © Trevor Woolley