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All-You-Can-Eat Buffet: Entry Price, the Fat Tax and Meal Cessation

Author

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  • Siniver Erez

    (COMAS, Israel)

  • Yaniv Gideon

    (COMAS, Israel)

Abstract

A widespread meal-serving system commonly blamed for contributing to the obesity epidemic is the all-you-can-eat buffet, where customers can help themselves to as much food as they wish to eat in a single meal for a fixed entry price. The paper offers a rational-choice model for addressing the individual's eating dilemma in an-all-you-can-eat buffet, incorporating the motivation of getting-one's-money's-worth as a behavioral constraint on eating. Contrary to previous findings, the model reveals that the individual will not necessarily overeat beyond the point of fullness and will not necessarily increase eating in response to a higher entry price. An experiment conducted in collaboration with a sushi restaurant supports this conclusion. The paper further shows that a fat tax imposed on both buffet and a-la-carte meals will not affect buffet eating, hence subjecting all-you-can-eat buffets to the fat tax program need not be counter-effective as the literature results imply.

Suggested Citation

  • Siniver Erez & Yaniv Gideon, 2012. "All-You-Can-Eat Buffet: Entry Price, the Fat Tax and Meal Cessation," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:12:y:2012:i:1:n:16
    DOI: 10.1515/1935-1682.3161
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yaniv, Gideon & Rosin, Odelia & Tobol, Yossef, 2009. "Junk-food, home cooking, physical activity and obesity: The effect of the fat tax and the thin subsidy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(5-6), pages 823-830, June.
    2. Jay Bhattacharya & M. Kate Bundorf, 2005. "The Incidence of the Healthcare Costs of Obesity," NBER Working Papers 11303, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Cash, Sean B. & Sunding, David L. & Zilberman, David, 2004. "Fat Taxes And Thin Subsidies: Prices, Diet, And Health Outcomes," 2004 Annual meeting, August 1-4, Denver, CO 19961, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
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    Cited by:

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    2. Sirikarn Phuchada & Phumsith Mahasuweerachai, 2022. "The Higher the Goal, the More You Eat: Reference Dependence In an “ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT†Restaurant," PIER Discussion Papers 185, Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research.

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