Eric Ayamga
I study health economics and public policy through the lens of industrial organization, examining how information asymmetries affect consumer choices and firm behavior.
Research Interests
- Health economics
- Industrial organization
- Information economics
- Public Economics
- Energy transition
Education
- M.Phil. in Economics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, 2022
- B.A. in Economics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, 2019
Research
Do Front-of-Package Sugar Labels Shift Consumer Demand away from Diabetes-Risk Foods
I use U.S. retail scanner data to study the effectiveness of the 2016 FDA Nutrition Facts label revision. I find only modest effects on consumer demand with limited substitution away from high-sugar products. To explain these findings, I develop and estimate a structural random-coefficients demand model with rational inattention, in which consumers face information-processing costs when acquiring nutritional information. The model estimates reveal that consumers pay little attention to the current Nutrition Facts label because of the high cognitive cost. I then use the model to compare the current labels with other much simpler labels. The results show that warning labels substantially reduced information-processing cost and sugar consumption by 36% through consumer substitution and product reformulation. Overall, our findings suggest that reducing cognitive costs through simplified FOP designs can meaningfully improve consumer welfare and shift consumption away from unhealthy products.
Working Papers
The Cost of Inaccessibility: Retail Discrimination and Mobility-Constrained Consumers Working Paper
Retail prices are increasingly accessed through digital platforms, yet not all consumers benefit equally. While prior research identifies price disparities across consumer groups, less is known about how such disparities arise and whether digital retail mitigates or reproduces them. This study examines mobility constraints associated with health conditions and physical limitations as an underexplored source of unequal price access. Using transaction-level data from both offline (NielsenIQ) and online (Open E-Commerce 1.0), we compare price outcomes between mobility-constrained and non-constrained consumers. We adopt a decomposition-based approach that distinguishes between differences driven by product selection and those that persist beyond selection effects. We find that mobility-constrained consumers pay higher prices on average in both settings, while within-product disparities are more persistent in the online environment. While part of the difference is explained by product choice, a meaningful gap remains among comparable purchases, suggesting unequal access to favorable prices. These findings contribute to research on digital inequality and retail information systems by identifying mobility constraints as a distinct source of price inequality and by showing that digital access does not necessarily translate into equal access to favorable prices.
Hotter Days, Sweet Choices: Temperature Extremes and Consumer Food Choice Working Paper
This paper examines the impact of extreme heat exposure on consumer demand for added sugars. Using high-frequency retail scanner data combined with detailed local weather information and I find that an increase in the number of extreme hot days leads to a statistically and economically significant rise in the demand for added sugars. The effect is nonlinear, with stronger responses observed at higher temperature thresholds and during prolonged heat episodes. These findings have important implications for both climate policy and public health.
Front-of-Package Sugar Label and Consumer Demand: Heterogeneous Evidence Across Categories Working Paper
Publications
Decomposed Oil-Driven Inflation and Asymmetric Shocks
Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics
Forecasting the Future: Applying Bayesian Model Averaging for Exchange Rates Drivers in Ghana
Applied Economics
Research in Globalization
Pricing of Climate Risks in Capital Markets of South Africa
Journal of Developing Areas
The Macroeconomic Impact of Energy Transition Metal Prices: Nonlinear Evidence from IEA Economies
Journal of Commodity Markets
Software & Tools
Teaching
- Principles of Microeconomics
- Monetary Economics
- Microeconomics II (PhD Game Theory)
- Game Theory (undergraduate)
- Macroeconomic Theory and Policy (PhD)
- Principles of Money, Banking, and Credit
- Microeconomic Theory I (M.Phil.)
- Advanced Econometrics
- Advanced Econometrics
- Environmental and Resource Economics
- Environmental and Resource Economics
Awards & Fellowships
- Graduate Part-Time Instructor
- Dr. Rashid Al-Hmoud Fellowship
- Graduate Teaching Scholarship
- Graduate Students Research Support Fund
- Faculty Dean Award
- Best Economics Student Award
Presentations
- ASHEcon Meeting
- Midwest Economic Association Conference
- ASSA/AEA Annual Meeting
- International Studies Association Annual Meeting
- ASSA/AEA Annual Meeting
Professional Affiliations
- American Economic Association
- American Society of Health Economists
- Southern Economic Association
- Midwest Economic Association
- Industrial Organization Society
Contact
- Email: ericayamga290@gmail.com
- Advisor: Michael Noel, Professor of Economics, Texas Tech University (Michael.Noah@ttu.edu)