Prof. Rachel Griffith (IFS, Manchester) on Tax Design for Sin Goods

ECORES  is happy to invite you to its first ECORES chair by Prof. Rachel Griffith (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Manchester University), on the topic "Should Governments Control What We Eat?".

ECORES is a research and teaching institution, which federates three centers of excellence: CORE (Center for Operations Research and Econometrics, Université catholique de Louvain), ECARES (European Center for Advanced Research in Economics and Statistics, Université libre de Bruxelles) and KU Leuven’s Department of Economics.

Rachel Griffith

Rachel Griffith is Research Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and Professor of Economics at the University of Manchester. She is a Fellow of the Econometric Society, the British Academy and the Academy of Social Sciences. Rachel won the Birgit Grodal award in 2014 and was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2015 for services to economic policy. Rachel served as President of the European Economic Association from 2013-2015. She currently holds her second ERC Advanced Grant to study the behaviour of consumers and firms and the impact of government policy in food markets. She is also a Co-Investigator on the Obesity Policy Research Unit, funded by the National Institute for Health Research.

Outline

Increasing rates of obesity, particularly for children living in the most deprived areas, is a major policy concern. For instance, current estimates suggest that around 13% of the world's population is obese. Governments around the world are grappling with this issue and are considering a wide array of policies, such as taxes on junk foods, restrictions to the availability and advertising of foods, nutritional labelling and other forms of regulation. These policies aim to encourage a healthier diet, but they are sometimes proved controversial. In this lecture series Professor Rachel Griffith will discuss what different types of policies, aimed at reducing obesity, might achieve in terms of reducing long-run inequalities in health, social and economic outcomes.

Program

In this lecture series, Professor Griffith will discuss what different types of policies, aimed at reducing obesity, might achieve in terms of reducing long-run inequalities in health, social and economic outcomes.

Thursday April 19, 18:00-19:30
Inaugural lecture: "Should the Government Control What We Eat?".
ECARES (ULB, room R42.5.503), followed by a cocktail in the cafeteria of the R42.
Avenue Roosevelt 42 – 1050 Brussels – 5th floor Monday

April 23, 11:00-13:00
"Self-control in Food Purchases".
ECARES (ULB, room R42.2.113)
Avenue Roosevelt 42 – 1050 Brussels – ground floor

Tuesday April 24, 16:00-18:00
"Tax Design for Sin Goods".
CORE (UCLouvain, room Doyens 22)
Place des Doyens, 1 – 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve

Thursday April 26, 11:00-13:00
"Habit Formation in Sugar Consumption".
Vlerick Business School campus Leuven (Lecture room A-1.02)

Vlamingenstraat 83 - 3000 Leuven

Registration

Attendance is free, but registration is mandatory. Please register through our online form or send an email to Nancy.