El Departamento de Administración de la Facultad de Economía y Negocios de la Universidad de Chile, tienen el agrado de invitarle al Seminario Académico: The Effect of Pregnancy and Childbirth on Consumption Behavior.
Presenta: Ricardo Montoya (PUC).
Abstract:
Significant life transitions such as relocation, a new job, pregnancy, and the birth of a child can have significant implications on one’s lifestyle and consumption patterns. In this research, we study how the consumption behavior of first-time parents is affected, both during pregnancy and after birth. We combine a unique data set that identifies precisely the date of childbirth with supermarket credit card data. We use detailed supermarket transactions and aggregated purchases made at different external companies using the retailer’s credit card to investigate the relationship between pregnancy and childbirth, and consumption. To examine the causal effect of pregnancy and childbirth on consumption, we combine a difference-in-differences approach with a causal random forest model that matches each first-time parent with comparable non-parents. The results of our study show that grocery purchase behavior is significantly affected during pregnancy and after childbirth. In particular, we identified a significant decrease in total spending and purchasing frequency during the first quarter of pregnancy. There was also an increase in these purchase behaviors from the last quarter until the baby was one year old. At the product category level, the effects after childbirth are also more pronounced than those observed during pregnancy. During pregnancy, we identify a significant decrease in categories associated with leisure and entertainment outings such as travel, entertainment, restaurants, and gas. The more significant increases are related to healthfulness, such as outdoor and fitness, milk and cream, fruit, and yogurt. After childbirth, we identify significant decreases in leisure and entertainment outings categories. And also in other categories such as pets, care and beauty, and personal hygiene. The more significant increases are related to outdoor and fitness, beach, and meat.
