Brandon J. Restrepo

Current Employment and Research

Welcome to my personal webpage!

I am an applied microeconomist with research interests in the determinants of health behavior, outcomes, and inequality. I work as a Research Economist in the Diet, Safety, and Health Economics Branch of the Food Economics Division at USDA's Economic Research Service. My current research program examines how health behaviors and outcomes are affected by nutrition information, food prices, food assistance programs, labor supply, time use, and other economic factors.

Selected Published or Forthcoming Papers

Can Information Enhanced with Nudges Mitigate the Rise of Childhood Obesity in the Global South? (with Pham Khanh Nam, Matthias Rieger, and Natascha Wagner), Journal of Human Resources, Forthcoming

The Protective Effect of SNAP During Economic Downturns: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic, Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, December 2023

Time Use and Eating Patterns of SNAP Participants over the Benefit Month (with Young Jo, Ji Yong Lee, and Rodolfo Nayga), Food Policy, January 2022 

Particle Pollution and Cognition: Evidence from Sensitive Cognitive Tests in Brazil (with Arjun Bedi, Marcos Nakaguma, and Matthias Rieger), Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economics, May 2021 

The Effect of Unemployment on Food Spending and Adequacy: Evidence from Coronavirus-Induced Firm Closures (with Christian Gregory and Matthew Rabbitt), Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, March 2021 

Food Away from Home and Caloric Intake: The Role of Restaurant Menu Labeling Laws (with Vince Breneman, Chris Dicken, Claudine, Kavanaugh, Lisa Mancino, and Jessica Todd), Economic Inquiry, January 2021 

The Effects of Soda Taxes on Adolescent Calorie Intake, Sugar Intake, and Blood Sugar (with Jonathan Cantor), Health Economics, November 2020 

Birth Weight, Neonatal Care, and Infant Mortality: Evidence from Macrosomic Babies (with Ylenia Brilli), Economics and Human Biology, May 2020 

Restricting Access to Alcohol and Public Health: Evidence from Electoral Dry Laws in Brazil (with Marcos Nakaguma), Health Economics, January 2018 

Calorie Labeling in Chain Restaurants and Body Weight: Evidence from New York, Health Economics, October 2017 

Parental Investment Responses to a Low Birth Weight Outcome: Who Compensates and Who Reinforces?, Journal of Population Economics, October 2016 

Trans Fat and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality: Evidence from Bans in Restaurants in New York (with Matthias Rieger), Journal of Health Economics, January 2016

Full CV


Brandon J. Restrepo - CV - Feb 10 2024.pdf

Get in touch at brandon.restrepo [at] usda.gov