Chain Restaurant Calorie Posting Laws, Obesity, and Consumer Welfare

Abstract

We thank Chelsea Crain and Abigail Kappelman for research assistance. We thank Melissa Haberlin for her legal expertise and assistance interpreting local and state calorie mandate legislation. We thank participants from numerous seminars and conferences for helpful comments. We acknowledge funding from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01DK107686. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

The Impact of Restaurant Menu Calorie Labels on Restaurant Revenue and Profit: Evidence From a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Our findings regarding the impact on restaurants contribute to the larger research literature on the effect of menu label laws, which historically has focused on consumer outcomes (e.g., Bollinger et al, 2011;Cantor et al, 2015;Cawley et al, 2020Cawley et al, , 2021Elbel et al, 2009;Finkelstein et al, 2011) or population body mass index (Courtemanche et al, 2020). More broadly, our results also contribute to the literature on the impact of legal regulations on the restaurant and hospitality industry (e.g., Dredge et al, 2016;Farmaki et al, 2015;Jin & Leslie, 2003;Johnson, 2018;Krutwaysho & Bramwell, 2010;Levin, 1964;Shafer, 2017;Siegel et al, 2005).…”

Consumer Responses to Firms’ Voluntary Disclosure of Information: Evidence from Calorie Labeling by Starbucks

“…Our model also controls for an indicator variable for whether any part of the DMA had passed but not yet implemented a menu label law. Dates of the passage and implementation of local menu label laws are taken from Courtemanche et al (2020).…”

“…To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the impact of voluntary calorie labeling by a chain on the probability that consumers patronize the chain. 5 Most of the related previous research has examined the impact of city and county laws that required calorie labels on restaurant menus (e.g., Todd et al, 2021;Courtemanche et al, 2020;Restrepo, 2017;Cantor et al, 2015;Auchincloss et al, 2013;Bollinger et al, 2011;Finkelstein et al, 2011;Elbel et al, 2009). Notably, Bollinger et al (2011) use data from Starbucks to estimate the effect of a 2008 New York City law mandating calorie counts be posted on restaurant menus.…”

“…Between 2008 and 2018, calorie labels on restaurant menus in the U.S. went from virtually nonexistent to ubiquitous, due to three factors. First, certain cities and counties passed laws requiring chain restaurants in their jurisdiction to disclose calorie information; this occurred 3 in, e.g., New York City (2008), King County, Washington, which includes Seattle (2009), and Philadelphia (2010); see Courtemanche et al (2020). Second, some restaurant chains decided to voluntarily post calorie labels, including: Panera (2010); Yum Brands (2011), which includes Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell;McDonalds (2012); Chik-fil-A (2013);and Starbucks (2013).…”

Food Away From Home and Caloric Intake: The Role of Restaurant Menu Labeling Laws

“…Restrepo (2017) estimated that calorie labeling in New York City led to a modest reduction in average BMI and risk of obesity, which was not driven by a change in physical activity, but the study was unable to identify the dietary mechanism by which this occurred as no changes in the consumption of alcohol, fruit, and vegetables were observed. Deb and Vargas (2016) and Courtemanche et al (2020) studied the average body-weight effect of all the local and state policy mandates that were implemented and reached similar conclusions, but data limitations also prevented them from determining the role that food intake played in reducing body weight.…”