General Areas of Interest: Poverty, welfare policy, obesity

Current Projects

• Economic explanations of the rise in obesity in developed countries
• Relationships between poverty, welfare, and obesity

Recent Publications:

"Does the U.S. Food Stamp Program Contribute to Adult Weight Gain?" Jay Zagorsky and Patricia K. Smith, Economics and Human Biology, July 2009, v. 7: 246-58.

Obesity among Poor Americans: Is Public Assistance the Problem? Vanderbilt University Press, July 2009.

"Prospects for Welfare Alleviation in an Obesogenic Environment," invited chapter in Contemporary Poverty and Welfare Alleviation Issues," Patricia K. Smith, Barry Bogin, and M.I. Varela-Silva, Nova Science Publishers, 2005.

"Are Time Preference and Body Mass Index Associated? Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth," Patricia K. Smith, Barry Bogin, and David Bishai, Economics and Human Biology 3: 259 - 270, 2005.

"The Economics of Anti-Begging Regulations," Patricia K. Smith, American Journal of Economics and Sociology 64(2): 549-577, April 2005.

"Obesity and the Rate of Time Preference: Is there a Connection?" John Komlos, Patricia K. Smith, and Barry Bogin, Journal of Biosocial Science, 36: 209 - 219, 2004.

"Economic and Anthropological Assessments of the Health of Children in Maya
Immigrant Families in the U.S." Patricia K. Smith, Barry Bogin and M.I. Varela
Silva, Economics and Human Biology, 1: 145 - 160, 2003.

"Rapid Change in Height and Body Proportions of Maya-American Children,"
Barry Bogin, Patricia K. Smith, B.Orden, M.I. Varela Silva, and J. Loucky,
American Journal of Human Biology, 14: 753-61, 2002.

"Does Immigration Help or Harm Children's Health: The Case of the Maya,"
Patricia K. Smith, B. Bogin, M.I. Varela Silva, B. Orden, and James Loucky,
Social Science Quarterly, 83 (4): 994-1002, Dec. 2002.

"Facilitating Student Experimentation with Statistical Concepts," Patricia K.
Smith, Journal of Economic Education, v. 33(3): 295, 2002.