Ondine
Berland
Studying how households shape and are shaped by environmental challenges, using tools from applied microeconomics and structural estimation.
Postdoctoral Fellow in Environmental Economics
London School of Economics | Grantham Research Institute
Research Highlights
Households' Food Carbon Footprints
Working paper coming soon!
Food consumption is a significant contributor to households' carbon footprints. However, consumer heterogeneity in food-related carbon footprints remains underexplored, primarily due to limited data linking real-world consumption choices to environmental impacts. I address this gap by matching detailed purchase data with environmental impact estimates at the transaction level for a representative sample of 7,540 French households between 2017 and 2019. Using this unique dataset, I provide a comprehensive overview of the distribution of food carbon footprints and employ a structural demand model to estimate how price and expenditure changes influence food basket composition and carbon emissions. The analysis reveals three key insights. 1) There is heterogeneity in the distribution of food carbon footprints, with 20% of households accounting for 40% of total food emissions. 2) Households with higher carbon footprints are more price-sensitive, particularly regarding high-emission products like red meat. 3) Simulations indicate that a 44.60€/tCO2 eq. food carbon tax would reduce food-related emissions (8.5%), especially among high-emission households. While modest carbon tax levels appear effective at reducing emissions, they may also lead to a trade-off between lowering emissions and preserving diet quality.
The Gender Gap in Carbon Footprints
with Marion Leroutier
We document a large gender gap in carbon footprints from food and transport in France using detailed consumption data. Across these two major sources of emissions, women emit 26 percent less than men. After accounting for observable characteristics and differences in the scale of consumption, which partly reflects gender differences in dietary energy needs, an 8 percent gap remains. Red meat and car—high-emission goods associated with masculine identity—drive most of the residual gap, suggesting that differences in carbon footprints between men and women are partly driven by gender stereotypes.
How Do Households Adjust Food Purchases to Fuel Price Shocks?
with Fabrice
Etilé
July 2022
Shocks in energy prices impact households' disposable income and welfare, with consequences for the acceptance of environmental policies. We examine how households adjust food consumption to such shocks by estimating the effects of fuel prices on food purchasing patterns in France. Using homescan data, we find an elasticity of total food expenditure of approximately -0.3, mainly through reductions in the unit value of products. We highlight that households adjust more on unit value for fresh fruits and vegetables, and more on volumes for animal proteins and alcohol. They adjust their purchase patterns by restricting the frequency of shopping trips, visiting hard discount stores, substituting among, and buying in bulk. Low-income households do not adjust significantly to fuel price shocks, likely because they have already largely exploited these adjustment margins. Thus, they are directly affected by any abrupt increase in fuel prices.
SSRN Working PaperUnequal Progress and Barriers for Women in Economics
with Oliver Harman, Ninon
Moreau-Kastler
May 2025
This paper reviews the literature on gender inequalities in the academic field of economics, highlighting both the unequal progress women have experienced and the persistent barriers they continue to face. Our analysis of recent literature and available data highlights that the reduction in women's absence in the field has been heterogeneous. While women now constitute 26% of published economists, their presence sharply declines at higher ranks, with only 5% representation among economists in the top percentile of research influence. Notably, recent progress has paradoxically concentrated at this highest level, indicating shifting institutional norms and evolving perceptions about women's contributions. We further explore how understanding women's behaviours and career choices, gender biases in evaluation, and workplace environments contribute to women's underrepresentation in the field. Our discussion extends to the labour market for economists, drawing parallels with broader labour trends, and examining how gender-biased treatment and hiring processes impact women's advancement. Finally, we turn to policy interventions, which are key in promoting gender balance, focusing on networks, mentorship, role models, and representation.
Work in Progress
Junk Food, Leisure, and Income Inequalities
with Eve Colson-Sihra, Hugo Molina, Emmanuel Paroissien
Many studies have documented that high-income households tend to adopt diets of higher nutritional quality, ceteris paribus. Guided by the fact that the "liking for sweet taste is both innate and universal" (Drewnowski et al., 1997) and differences in supply conditions only explain a small share of diet inequalities (Allcott et al., 2019), we investigate a driver of food preferences that has not been explored yet: income enables households to substitute the pleasure derived from tasty (but unhealthy) foods with expensive leisure activities. We start by leveraging the latest wave of the French Consumer Expenditure Survey data to describe the income gradient in demand for leisure and healthy food. We document a positive correlation between income, diet quality, and out-of-home leisure. To evidence causality, we leverage food transaction data to estimate the effects of 2020 COVID-19-related lockdowns that can be seen as a large negative shock on out-of-home leisure, affecting disproportionately high-income households (who demand more leisure). Our results show that during the lockdown, higher-income households experienced a larger relative decline in diet quality, supporting the hypothesis that out-of-home leisure and unhealthy food consumption are substitutes. These findings highlight the role of income in shaping food choices and contribute to the literature on nutritional inequalities.
The Effects of Social Food Security: A Randomized Experiment among Students
with Bénédicte Apouey, Simon Briole, Damien Mayaux
A preregistered randomized controlled trial examining the effects of social food security programs on students in higher education.
View Trial RegistryResearch Intersection
Economics
Econ
Micro
Research
Teaching
London School of Economics
2025–presentEnvironmental and Resource Economics
Master's level
Applied Environmental Economics
Undergraduate level
Economic Development and the Environment
Master's level
University of Paris-Saclay
GuestSustainable Food Systems (M.Sc. program)
Sciences Po
TAIntroduction to Environmental Economics (Master's, Fall) • Led by Stephen Smith (UCL)
ENS Paris-Saclay
TADynamic Macroeconomics (3rd year Bachelor, Fall) • Led by Hubert Kempf
Growth Models (3rd year Bachelor, Spring) • Led by Hubert Kempf
Latest News
New IFS Working Paper released: The Gender Gap in Transportation and Food Carbon Footprints.
Presented "The Gender Gap in Carbon Footprints" at ASSA/AEA Meetings in Philadelphia.
Completed Ph.D. in Economics at Paris-Saclay University.
Education & Affiliations
Education
Ph.D. in Economics
Paris-Saclay University
M.Sc. in Economics
Paris School of Economics
B.Sc. in Economics
École Normale Supérieure
Current Affiliations
London School of Economics
Fellow in Environmental Economics
Grantham Research Institute
Affiliate Researcher
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