Research Bio
Sofia Berto Villas-Boas is the Class of 1934 Robert Gordon Sproul Distinguished Professor in Agricultural Economics and Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at U C Berkeley. Born in Portugal in 1971 she received her Ph.D. in Economics from U. C. Berkeley in May 2002. Her research interests include industrial organization, consumer behavior, food policy, and environmental regulation. Her recent empirical work estimates the effects of policies on consumer behavior, such a bottled water tax, a plastic bag ban, and a soda tax campaign and its implementation. Other published work has focused on the economics behind wholesale price discrimination banning legislation, contractual relationships along a vertical supply chain, and identifying the role of those contracts in explaining pass-through of cost shocks along the supply chain into retail prices that consumers face. She has published in the top economics and field journals such as Review of Economic Studies, Rand Journal of Economics, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Marketing Science, Management Science, and Review of Economics and Statistics.
Research Expertise and Interest
economics, industrial organization and applied econometrics, agricultural & resource economics, consumer behavior and decision making
In the News
Taxes on Sugar-Sweetened Drinks Drive Decline in Consumption
Teaching
Methods in Quantitative Policy Analysis in Agricultural, Food, and Other Markets [ARESEC 242]
Special Study for Graduate Students [ARESEC 298]
Individual Research [ARESEC 299]
Professional Training in Research Methodology [ARESEC 400]
Individual Study for Doctoral Students [ARESEC 602]
Senior Thesis [ENVECON 195]
Field Study in Environmental Economics and Policy [ENVECON 197]
Supervised Independent Study and Research [ENVECON 199]
Honors Research [ENVECON H196]
Special Study for Graduate Students [ARESEC 298]
Individual Research [ARESEC 299]
Professional Training in Research Methodology [ARESEC 400]
Individual Study for Doctoral Students [ARESEC 602]
Senior Thesis [ENVECON 195]
Field Study in Environmental Economics and Policy [ENVECON 197]
Supervised Independent Study and Research [ENVECON 199]
Honors Research [ENVECON H196]
Individual Study for Doctoral Students [ARESEC N602]
Quantitative Policy Analysis [ARESEC 242]
Special Study for Graduate Students [ARESEC 298]
Individual Research [ARESEC 299]
Professional Training in Research Methodology [ARESEC 400]
Individual Study for Doctoral Students [ARESEC 602]
Senior Thesis [ENVECON 195]
Field Study in Environmental Economics and Policy [ENVECON 197]
Supervised Independent Study and Research [ENVECON 199]
Introductory Applied Econometrics [ENVECON C118]
Honors Research [ENVECON H196]
Introductory Applied Econometrics [IAS C118]