Chad D. Meyerhoefer

Chad Meyerhoefer holds the Arthur F. Searing Professorship in the department of economics and is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research focuses broadly on the economics of health and nutrition and involves using microeconometric methods to evaluate and inform public policy. He has published over fifty peer-reviewed journal articles in addition to numerous book chapters, conference proceedings and research reports. His research has appeared in top field journals in economics and information systems, such as the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Information and Management, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association and Journal of Health Economics, and leading journals in health policy, medicine and dentistry.

Professor Meyerhoefer’s research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He has received several awards from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, including the Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Award and the Outstanding American Journal of Agricultural Economics Journal Article and Reviewer awards. The Lehigh University Graduate Student Senate has also recognized Professor Meyerhoefer for his mentorship of Ph.D. students.          

Before joining the faculty at Lehigh, professor Meyerhoefer served as a research economist at both the CNA Corporation and the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Education

• Binghamton University, B.S.
• Cornell University, M.S., Ph.D.

Research Interests

• Health Economics
• Agricultural Economics and Nutrition
• Public Policy

• Meyerhoefer, C., B. Xue, and A. Poznanska. “Implications of the Decline in LGBT Rights for Population Mental Health: Evidence from Polish “LGBT-Free Zones”, Journal of Health Economics, March 2025, 102973.
• Biener, A., C. Meyerhoefer, and J. Cawley. “Non-classical Measurement Error in Instrumental Variables Estimation: An Application to the Medical Care Costs of Obesity”, Health Economics, First published July 18, 2024.
• Chen, J., C. Meyerhoefer, and E. Timmons. “The Effects of Dental Hygienist Autonomy on Dental Care Utilization”, Health Economics, August 2024, 33(8): 1726-1747.
• Chang, H-H. and C. Meyerhoefer. “Do Elections Make You Sick? Evidence from First-Time Voters”, Health Economics, May 2023, 32(5): 1064-1083.
• Pylypchuk, Y., C. Meyerhoefer, W. Encinosa, and T. Searcy. “The Role of Electronic Health Record Developers in Hospital Patient Sharing”, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, March 2022, 29(3): 413-580.
• Moeller, J., R. Manski, J. Moeller, H. Chen, C. Meyerhoefer, J. Pepper, and M. Terrin. “Dental Care Use and Other Population Characteristics of Older Americans with Self-Reported Chronic Conditions in the Health and Retirement Study”, Journal of Public Health Dentistry, Winter 2022, 82(1): 40-52.
• Meyerhoefer, C., J. Pepper, R. Manski, and J Moeller. “Dental Care Use, Edentulism, and Systemic Health among Older Adults”, Journal of Dental Research, December 2021, 100(13): 1468-1474.
• Chang, H-H., C. Meyerhoefer, and F-A. Yang. “COVID-19 Prevention, Air Pollution and Transportation Patterns in the Absence of a Lockdown”, Journal of Environmental Management, November 2021, 298: 113522.
• Dearden, J., C. Meyerhoefer, and X. Guo. “Restaurant Wines: Bottle Margins and the By-the-Glass Option”, Journal of Wine Economics, August 2021, 16(3): 305-320..
• Cawley, J., A Biener, C. Meyerhoefer, Y. Ding, T. Zvenyach, B. Smolarz, and A. Ramasamy. “Job Absenteeism Costs of Obesity in the United States: National and State-Level Estimates”, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, July 2021, 63(7): 565-573.
• Chang, H-H. and C. Meyerhoefer. “COVID-19 and the Demand for Online Food Shopping Services: Empirical Evidence from Taiwan”, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, March 2021, 103(2): 448-465.
• Cawley, J., A Biener, C. Meyerhoefer, Y. Ding, T. Zvenyach, B. Smolarz, and A. Ramasamy. “Direct Medical Costs of Obesity in the U.S. and the Most Populous States”, Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, March 2021, 27(3): 354-366.
• Chen, J., C. Meyerhoefer, and L. Peng. “The Effects of Paid Sick Leave on Worker Absenteeism and Healthcare Utilization”, Health Economics, September 2020, 29(9): 1062-1070.
• Biener, A., J. Cawley, and C. Meyerhoefer. “The Medical Care Costs of Youth Obesity: An Instrumental Variable Approach”, Health Economics, May 2020, 29(5): 624-639.
• Peng, L., X. Guo, and C. Meyerhoefer. “The Effects of Medicaid Expansion on Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Border Counties”, Health Economics, March 2020, 29(3): 245-260.
• Moeller, J., R. Manski, H. Chen, S. Zuvekas, and C. Meyerhoefer. “Does Covering Routine Dental Care for the Medicare Population Produce Cost Savings in Medicare? A Preliminary 2-Year Analysis”, Journal of Public Health Dentistry, Winter 2020, 80(1): 31-42.
• Terrizzi, S. and C. Meyerhoefer. “Estimates of the Price-Elasticity of Switching between Branded and Generic Drugs”, Contemporary Economic Policy, January 2020, 38(1):94-108.
• Meyerhoefer, C., S. Zuvekas, B. Fayaz Farkhad, J. Moeller, and R. Manski. “The Demand for Preventive and Restorative Dental Services among Older Adults”, Health Economics, September 2019, 28(9):1151-1158.
• Chang, H-H. and C. Meyerhoefer. “Inter-brand Competition in the Convenience Store Industry, Store Density and Healthcare Utilization”, Journal of Health Economics, May 2019, 65:117-132.
• Guo, X., C. Meyerhoefer and L. Peng. “Participation in School-Sponsored Sports and Academic Spillovers: New Evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey”, Applied Economics, 2019, 51(15):1602-1620.
• Meyerhoefer, C., S. Sherer, M. Deily, S-Y. Chou, X. Guo, J. Chen, M. Sheinberg, and D. Levick, “Provider and Patient Satisfaction with the Integration of Ambulatory and Hospital EHR Systems”, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, August 2018, 25(1):1054-1063.
• Peng, L., C. Meyerhoefer, and S-Y. Chou. “The Health Implications of Unconventional Natural Gas Development in Pennsylvania”, Health Economics, June 2018, 27(6):956-983.
• Biener, A., J. Cawley, and C. Meyerhoefer. "The Impact of Obesity on Medical Care Costs and Labor Market Outcomes in the U.S.", Clinical Chemistry, January 2018, 64(1):108-117.
• Dearden, J., S. Li, C. Meyerhoefer, and M. Yang. "Demonstrated Interest: Signaling Behavior in College Admissions”, Contemporary Economic Policy, October 2017, 35(4):630-657.
• Manski, R. and C. Meyerhoefer. “Projecting the Demand for Dental Care in 2040”, Journal of Dental Education, August 2017, 81:eS133-eS145.
• Biener, A., J. Cawley and C. Meyerhoefer. “The High and Rising Cost of Obesity in the U.S. Healthcare System”, Journal of General Internal Medicine, April 2017, 32(Suppl 1):S6–S8.
• Meyerhoefer, C., S. Sherer, M. Deily, S-Y. Chou, L. Peng, T. Hu, M. Nihen, M. Sheinberg, and D. Levick, “A Mixed Methods Study of Clinical Information Availability in Obstetric Triage and Prenatal Offices”, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, April 2017, 24 (e1): e87-e94.
• Cawley, J., C. Meyerhoefer, L. Gillingham, P. Kris-Etherton and P. Jones. “Estimates of the Direct and Indirect Cost Savings Associated with Heart Disease That Could be Averted Through Dietary Change in the United States”, Journal of Medical Economics, February 2017, 20(2):182-192.
• C. Meyerhoefer, I. Panovska, and R. Manski. “Projections of Dental Care Use Through 2026: Preventive Care to Increase While Treatment Will Decline”, Health Affairs, December 2016, 35(12):2183-2189.
• Peng, L., C. Meyerhoefer, and S. Zuvekas. “The Short-Term Effect of Depressive Symptoms on Labor Market Outcomes”, Health Economics, October 2016, 25(10):1223-1238.
• Meyerhoefer C. and M. Yang. “Poverty and Obesity in Developed Countries” in The Handbook of Economics and Human Biology, Eds. John Komlos and Inas Rashad Kelly, Oxford University Press, 2016.
• Chang, H-H. and C. Meyerhoefer. “The Causal Effect of Education on Farm-Related Disability: Evidence from a Compulsory Schooling Reform in Taiwan”, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, October 2016, 98(5):1545-1557.
• Meyerhoefer, C., M. Deily, S. Sherer, S-Y. Chou, L. Peng, M. Sheinberg, and D. Levick, “The Consequences of Electronic Health Record Adoption for Physician Productivity and Birth Outcomes”, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, August 2016, 69(4):860-889.
• Sherer, S., C. Meyerhoefer and L. Peng. “Applying Institutional Theory to the Adoption of Electronic Health Records”, Information and Management, July 2016, 53(5):570-580.
• Sherer, S., C. Meyerhoefer, M. Sheinberg, and D. Levick, “Integrating Commercial Ambulatory Electronic Health Records with Hospital Systems: an Evolutionary Process”,International Journal of Medical Informatics, September 2015, 84(9):683-693.
• Cawley, J., C. Meyerhoefer, A. Beiner, M. Hammer, and N. Wintfeld. “Savings in Medical Expenditures Associated with Reductions in Body Mass Index Among Adults with Obesity, by Diabetes Status”, PharmacoEconomics, July 2015, 33(7):707-722.
• Hyclak, T, C. Meyerhoefer, and L. Taylor. “Older Americans’ Health and the Great Recession”, Review of Economics of the Household, June 2015, 13(2):413-436.
• Encinosa, W., C. Meyerhoefer, S. Zuvekas, and D. Du. “The Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising on Health Insurance Markets", Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance – Issues and Practice, October 2014, 39(4):749-767.
• Meyerhoefer, C. and Y. Pylypchuk. “The Effect of Chronic Illness on Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance and Medicaid Programs”, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, October 2014, 96(5): 1383-1401.
• Meyerhoefer, C., S. Zuvekas, and R. Manski. "The Demand for Preventive and Restorative Dental Services", Health Economics, January 2014, 23(1):14-32
• Chang, H-H., C. Meyerhoefer and D. Just. "How Do Health and Social Insurance Programs Affect the Land and Labor Allocations of Farm Households? Evidence from Taiwan", Journal of Agricultural Economics, January 2014, 65(1):68-86.
• Cawley, J., D. Frisvold and C. Meyerhoefer. “The Impact of Physical Education on Obesity among Elementary School Children”, Journal of Health Economics, July 2013, 32: 743-755.
• Levick, D., G. Stern, and C. Meyerhoefer, A. Levick, and D. Pucklavage. "Reducing Unnecessary Testing in a CPOE System through Implementation of a Targeted CDS Intervention", BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, April 2013, 13(43): doi:10.1186/1472-6947-13-43.
• Deily, M., T. Hu, S. Terrizzi, S-Y Chou, and C. Meyerhoefer. "The Impact of Health Information Technology Adoption by Outpatient Facilities on Pregnancy Outcomes", Health Services Research, February 2013, 48(1): 70-94.
• Liang, L., C. Meyerhoefer, and J. Wang. "Obesity Counseling by Pediatric Health Care Professionals: An Assessment Using Nationally Representative Data", Pediatrics, July 2012, 130(1): 67-77.
• Meyerhoefer, C., M. Colby, and J. McFetridge. "Patient Mix in Outpatient Surgery Settings and Implications for Medicare Payment Policy", Medical Care Research and Review, February 2012, 69(1): 62-82.
• Cawley, J. and C. Meyehoefer. "The Medical Care Costs of Obesity: An Instrumental Variables Approach", Journal of Health Economics, January 2012, 31(1): 219:230.
• Meyerhoefer, C. and M. Yang. “The Relationship between Food Assistance and Health: A Review of the Literature and Empirical Strategies for Identifying Program Effects”, Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Autumn 2011, 33(3):304-344.
• Meyerhoefer, C. and C. Chen. "The Effect of Parental Labor Migration on Children's Educational Progress in Rural China", Review of Economics of the Household, September 2011, 9(3):379-396.
• Meyerhoefer, C. and E. Leibtag. "A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down: The Relationship Between Food Prices and Medical Expenditures on Diabetes" American Journal of Agricultural Economics, October 2010, 92(5):1271-1282.
• Meyerhoefer, C. and D. Sahn. “The Relationship between Poverty and Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa” in Reproductive Health, Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction in Africa: Frameworks of Analysis, Eds.Olu Ajakaiye and Germano Mwabu, University of Nairobi Press, 2010.
• Meyerhoefer, C. and S. Zuvekas. “New Estimates of the Demand for Physical and Mental Health Treatment”, Health Economics, March 2010, 19(3):207-215.
• Zuvekas, S. and C. Meyerhoefer. "State Variation in Out-of-Pocket Spending and Burden for Outpatient Mental Health Treatment", Health Affairs, May/June 2009, 28(3):713-722.
• Meyerhoefer, C. “Economic Principles” in Youth Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior, Eds. Alan Smith and Stuart Biddle, Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc., 2008.
• Meyerhoefer, C. and Y. Pylypchuk. “Does Participation in the Food Stamp Program Affect the Prevalence of Obesity and Health Care Spending?”, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, May 2008, 90(2):287-305.
• Meyerhoefer, C. and S. Zuvekas. “The Shape of Demand: What Does it Tell Us About Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Antidepressants”,The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, January 2008, 8(2) (Advances), Article 4.
• Cawley, J., C. Meyerhoefer, and D. Newhouse. “The Impact of Physical Education Requirements on Youth Physical Activity and Overweight”, Health Economics, December 2007, 16(12):1287-1301.
• Meyerhoefer, C., D. Sahn, and S. Younger. “The Joint Demand for Health Care, Leisure, and Commodities: Implications for Health Care Finance and Access in Vietnam”, Journal of Development Studies, November 2007, 43(8):1475-1500.
• Cawley, J., C. Meyerhoefer, and D. Newhouse. “The Correlation of Youth Physical Activity with State Policies”,Contemporary Economic Policy, October 2007, 25(4):506-517.
• Zuvekas, S. and C. Meyerhoefer. “Coverage for Mental Health Treatment: Do Gaps Still Persist?”, Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics, September 2006, 9(3):155-163.
• Meyerhoefer, C. and R. Trost. “Tired Titanium: A Fatigue Based Approach to Aircraft Inventory Management and Acquisition Planning”, Defense and Peace Economics, February 2006, 17(1):1-21.
• Meyerhoefer, C., C. Ranney, and D. Sahn. “Consistent Estimation of Censored Demand Systems Using Panel Data”, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, August 2005, 87(3):660-672.