Co-Director, Institute on Health Economics, Health Behaviors and Disparities

Chair, Search Committee for Economics of Health Behaviors

Cornell University Sesquicentennial Celebrations Social Science Subcommittee

Cornell University Committee on Financial Policies

Executive Committee, Cornell Population Center

Academic Integrity Hearing Board, College of Human Ecology

Grievance Committee, College of Human Ecology

John's primary field of research is health economics, with a focus on the economics of obesity. He studies the economic causes of obesity, the economic consequences of obesity, and economic approaches to obesity treatment and prevention. Examples of research projects include: the effects of food advertising on diet and of income on weight; the impact of obesity on labor market outcomes such as wages; the effect of physical education on youths; and the effectiveness of financial rewards for weight loss.

John's research has been published in general-interest economics journals (American Economic Review, Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Economic Perspectives) as well as journals in health economics (Journal of Health Economics, Health Economics), labor economics (Journal of Human Resources, Labour Economics), public policy (Journal of Policy Analysis and Management) and health policy (Health Affairs, Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law). He serves as co-editor of the journal Economics and Human Biology.

His research has been supported by grants from the following sources: the National Institutes of Health; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; the Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured; the IBM Center for the Business of Government; the Merck Foundation Center on Consumers, Pharmaceutical Policy, and Health; the University of Michigan Retirement Research Consortium; the U. S. Department of Agriculture; the Institute for the Social Sciences and the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center at Cornell University; and J. P. Morgan Private Bank Global Philanthropic Services.

John's research has been featured in stories in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Business Week, Forbes, Scientific American, Chronicle of Higher Education, as well as on radio and television.

• Cawley, John, John Moran, and Kosali Simon. "The Impact of Income on the Weight of Elderly Americans." Forthcoming, Health Economics.
• Coles, Peter, John Cawley, Phillip B. Levine, Muriel Niederle, Alvin E. Roth, and John J. Siegfried. "The Job Market for New Economists: A Market Design Perspective." Journal of Economic Perspectives, forthcoming 2010, 24(3).
• Cawley, John. "The Economics of Childhood Obesity." Health Affairs, 2010, 29(3): 364-371.
• Burkhauser, Richard V., John Cawley, and Maximilian D. Schmeiser. "The Timing of the Rise in U.S. Obesity Varies With Measure of Fatness." Economics and Human Biology, 2009, 7(3): 307-318.
• Cawley, John, and Donald S. Kenkel (editors). The Economics of Health Behaviours, Volumes 1-3. The International Library of Critical Writings in Economics Series. (Edward Elgar: Northampton, MA). Forthcoming 2008.
• Morrisey, Michael A., and John Cawley. "Health Economists' Views of Health Policy." Forthcoming, Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law, August 2008, 33(4).
• Morrisey, Michael A., and John Cawley. "U.S. Health Economists: Who We Are and What We Do." Health Economics, forthcoming 2008, 17.
• Burkhauser, Richard V., and John Cawley. "Beyond BMI: The Value of More Accurate Measures of Fatness and Obesity in Social Science Research." Journal of Health Economics, forthcoming 2008, 27.
• Cawley, John, Chad Meyerhoefer, and David Newhouse. "The Impact of State Physical Education Requirements on Youth Physical Activity and Overweight." Health Economics, December 2007, 16(12): 1287-1301.
• Cawley, John, and Andrew B. Whitford. "Improving the Design of Competitive Bidding in Medicare Advantage." Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law, April 2007, 32(2): 293-323.
• Cawley, John, and Michael A. Morrisey. "The Earnings of U.S. Health Economists." Journal of Health Economics, March 2007, 26(2): 358-372.
• Cawley, John, and John A. Rizzo. "One Pill Makes You Smaller: The Demand for Anti-Obesity Drugs." Advances in Health Economics and Health Services Research, 2007, 17: 149-183.
• Cawley, John, Mathis Schroeder, and Kosali I. Simon. "How Did Welfare Reform Affect the Health Insurance Coverage of Women and Children?" Health Services Research, April 2006, 41(2): 486-506.
• Cawley, John, David Grabowski, and Richard Hirth. "Factor Substitution in Nursing Homes." Journal of Health Economics, March 2006, 25(2): 234-247.
• Cawley, John, Michael Chernew, and Catherine McLaughlin. "HMO Participation in Medicare Managed Care." Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, Fall 2005, 14(3): 543-574.
• Cawley, John, and Kosali I. Simon. "Health Insurance Coverage and the Macroeconomy." Journal of Health Economics, March 2005, 24(2): 299-315.
• Cawley, John. "The Impact of Obesity on Wages." Journal of Human Resources, Spring 2004, 39(2): 451-474.
• Cawley, John, Sara Markowitz, and John Tauras. "Lighting Up and Slimming Down: The Effects of Body Weight and Cigarette Prices on Adolescent Smoking Initiation." Journal of Health Economics, March 2004, 23(2): 293-311.
• Cawley, John, James Heckman, and Edward Vytlacil. "Three Observations on Wages and Measured Cognitive Ability." Labour Economics, September 2001, (8)4: 419-442.
• Cawley, John. "An Instrumental Variables Approach to Measuring the Effect of Body Weight on Employment Disability." Health Services Research, December 2000, 35(5, Part II): 1159-1179.
• Cawley, John, James Heckman and Edward Vytlacil. "On Policies to Reward the Value Added by Educators." Review of Economics and Statistics, November 1999, 81(4): 720-728.
• Cawley, John, and Tomas Philipson. "An Empirical Examination of Information Barriers to Trade in Insurance." American Economic Review, September 1999, 89(4): 827-846.

• Chair, PAM Ph.D. Placement Committee
• Member, Economics Ph.D. Placement Committee
• Member, Cornell Faculty Advisory Board on Information Technology
• Member, PAM Masters in Public Policy Committee