UF Graduate Student Wins Award from the Southern Economic Association

At the 2024 Southern Economic Association (SEA) Annual Meeting, UF graduate student, Jianhui Liu, received the Graduate Student Award following his presentation entitled “Assessing Consumers’ Valuation for Front-of-Package ‘Health’ Labeling Under FDA Proposed Guidelines”.

Liu, a Ph.D. candidate in the Food and Resource Economics Department, investigated the effects of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) endorsed labels on consumers’ preferences for yogurt products. This research investigated whether consumers would have a greater willingness to pay for yogurt specifically labeled as ‘healthy’ by the FDA.

UF Graduate Student Jianhui Liu presenting at the 2024 Southern Economic Association
UF Graduate Student Jianhui Liu presenting at the 2024 Southern Economic Association Annual Meeting.

Liu’s research indicated that consumer’s willingness to pay for these health-labeled yogurts was actually reduced compared to yogurts without the health label. However, when consumers were given additional information about the FDA’s qualifications for their health labels, this reduction in willingness to pay was not as significant.

During the SEA Annual Meeting, Liu had the opportunity to share and discuss his work with others involved in food economics, including researchers from the FDA who attended his presentation.

“Their feedback was insightful and made me feel that my research has meaningful policy implications,” Liu said. “It was rewarding to see how my findings could contribute to broader conversations about consumer behavior and labeling.”

Liu’s diligent work and research in the field of economics is evident by his recognition with the Graduate Student Award at the SEA Annual Meeting. A highly competitive process, only one advanced graduate student is allowed to be nominated from each university with a Ph.D. program in economics. From that candidate pool, the award winner is selected based upon the strength and originality of the research paper submitted with their application, the academic merit of the work, and the quality of the supporting nomination

“I am honored and grateful to receive the Graduate Student Award from the Southern   Association.” Liu said. “It’s a meaningful recognition of my research efforts, and I’m thankful for the support of my advisors and Drs. Lisa House and Zhifeng Gao for their nomination. This award motivates me to continue improving my work and contributing to the field.”

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Posted: January 15, 2025


Category: Health & Nutrition, Professional Development, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Teaching
Tags: Agricultural Economics, Food And Resource Economics, Food And Resource Economics Awards, Food And Resource Economics Graduate Students, Southern Economic Association


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