Using Scanner Data for Food Policy Research: An Economist's Guide

Using Scanner Data for Food Policy Research: An Economist's Guide is a practitioners' guide to using and interpreting scanner data obtained from stores and households in policy research. It provides practical advice for using the data, interpreting results, and addressing key methodological issues, such as aggregation and constructing price indices. In addition, the book demonstrates some of the key econometric and statistical applications of the data, including estimating demand systems for policy simulation, tracking changes in purchases and nutrients over time, conducting cost-benefit analysis of food policies, and analyzing the effects of food access on food choices.

• Explains how scanner data can be adapted to address questions of interest in various stripes of food policy research
• Demonstrates how to use scanner data using tools from econometric and statistical analyses
• Resolves key methodological issues related to using the data to facilitate more rapid analyses
• Presents the key applications of the data for food policy research, including demand system estimation, surveillance of food purchases and health, cost-benefit analysis, and food access research
• Provides an overview of published literature as background for designing new studies