Trenton G. Smith, Assistant Professor
EDUCATION
- Ph.D., Economics. University of California, Santa Barbara. (September 2002) Dissertation: "Toward a Unified Theory of Choice: Case Studies in Dietary Preference" Thesis Advisor: Ted Bergstrom
- M.A., Economics. University of California, Santa Barbara. (1997)
- M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering. Stanford University. (1993)
- B.A.S., Biological Sciences and Economics. Stanford University. (1990)
FIELDS OF INTEREST
- Economics of Obesity and Nutrition
- Behavioral Economics
- Neuroeconomics
TEACHING ASSIGNMENTS
JOURNAL ARTICLES AND WORK IN REVIEW
- "The McDonald's Equilibrium: Advertising, Empty Calories, and the Endogenous Determination of Dietary Preferences," (slides - 35.5 MB pdf file) 2004, Social Choice and Welfare, 23(3), 383-413.
- "A Theory of Natural Addiction," (with A. Tasnadi), 2007, Games and Economic Behavior, 59, 316-344.
- "Why Are Americans Addicted to Baseball? An Empirical Analysis of Fandom in Korea and the U.S," (blog reaction) (with Y.H. Lee), 2008, Contemporary Economic Policy, 26(1), 32-48.
- “Why (and When) are Preferences Convex? Threshold Effects and Uncertain Quality,” (blog reaction) (with A. Tasnádi), 2009. The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, 9(1) (Topics), Article 3.
- "Why the Poor Get Fat: Weight Gain and Economic Insecurity," (with C. Stoddard and M.G.Barnes), 2009, Forum for Health Economics & Policy, 12 (2), Article 5.
- "Reconciling Psychology with Economics: Obesity, Behavioral Biology, and Rational Overeating," forthcoming 2009, Journal of Bioeconomics. 11:249-282.
- “International Trade, Food and Diet Costs, and the Global Obesity Epidemic,” (with A. Drewnowski and A. Hanks), to appear in Trade, Food, Diet and Health: Perspectives and Policy Options, C. Hawkes et al., eds. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
- “Tobacco Use as Response to Economic Insecurity: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth,” (blog reaction) (with M.G. Barnes), 2009. The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy 9(1) (Contributions), Article 47.
- “Waiting for the Invisible Hand: Market Power and Endogenous Information in the Modern Market for Food” (slides) (poster) (blog reaction) (WSM) (with H. Chouinard and P. Wandschneider), Washington State University Working Paper 2009-7, revise and resubmit at Food Policy.
- “Intertemporal Alcohol Dependency: Like Father, Unlike Son” (with M. McCullough and T. Marsh), in review.
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“Quality Uncertainty as Resolution of the Bertrand Paradox” (with A. Tasnádi and A. Hanks), Washington State University Working Paper 2010-1, in review.
WORKING PAPERS AND SELECTED WORKS IN PROGRESS
- “Income and Health at Risk: Optimal Fattening in the Presence of Economic Insecurity” (with M.G. Barnes)
- “Friends (with Money) Don’t Let Friends Get Fat—A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of Household Workers and Weight Gain” (with M.G. Barnes and J. Yoder)
- “The Economic Psychology of Body Weight: Evidence from Country-Level Obesity Rates in the OECD” (slides) (with J. McCluskey)
- “The Economic Psychology of Television Advertising,” (slides - 18.8 MB pdf file) (with A. Hanks and A. Tasnádi)
- "Defining Deception in Television Advertisements for Food Aimed at Children: Perspectives from Economics and Behavioral Biology" (slides - 22 MB pdf file)
- “Endogenous Risk Attitudes and Threshold Utility,” (with A. Tasnádi)
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“Lunch Science: A Personal Dietary Investigation” (slides - 29MB pdf file)
Contact Info
E-mail Address
trentsmith@wsu.edu
Office Location:
111J Hulbert Hall
Office phone: 335-2865