About

Maria Porter is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Economy and Moral Science at the University of Arizona, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics. Her research areas include applied microeconomics, agricultural economics, risk and insurance, impact evaluation, social preferences, and intra-household resource allocation. She explores social and psychological factors influencing decision-making among family members, farmers, workers, and entrepreneurs, and how these decisions impact others. Porter has taught courses in intermediate microeconomics, household and development economics, behavioral and experimental economics, and econometrics. She completed her PhD in Economics at the University of Chicago.

Research topics

• Biology
• Endocrinology
• Economics
• Psychology
• Food science
• Agricultural science
• Cognitive psychology
• Biotechnology
• Marketing
• Social psychology
• Agricultural economics
• Commerce
• Medicine
• Cell biology
• Communication
• Genetics
• Business
• Internal medicine

Selected publications

• Trust, risk, and institutions: experimental evidence from a community of firms in Kenya

  Journal of Economic Psychology · 2025-08-09

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Basis risk, social comparison, perceptions of fairness, and demand for insurance: A field experiment in Ethiopia

  Journal of Risk & Insurance · 2025-07-31 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Abstract Index insurance lowers agricultural risk but covers only covariate risks. Since farmers do not have complete insurance, they may develop mistrust of insurance when experiencing crop losses and not receiving payouts. Although recent innovations in remote sensing enable the provision of more complete insurance including coverage for idiosyncratic risks, such insurance introduces differences in payouts within social networks, which might be considered unfair, introduce jealousy, and depress insurance demand. We conduct a lab‐in‐the‐field experiment with farmers in Ethiopia to examine whether providing complete insurance coverage affects perceived fairness and insurance demand. We also examine effects of informing farmers about neighbors' payout experiences. We find that such social comparison increases perceived fairness of index insurance. Providing complete crop insurance increases perceived fairness of outcomes and willingness to pay for insurance, without introducing jealousy over neighbors receiving different payouts. These results are concentrated among men and those with little insurance knowledge.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Using Novel Multimethod Evaluation Approaches to Understand Complex Food System Interventions: Insights from a Supply Chain Intervention Intended to Improve Nutrition

  Current Developments in Nutrition · 2024-05-25

  articleOpen access

  <h2>Abstract</h2><h3>Background</h3> A "food system" approach to improve diet quality by intervening within areas such as food supply chains is gaining prominence. However, evidence of such interventions' impact, and understanding of appropriate methods to evaluate them, is lacking. <h3>Objectives</h3> We present an impact evaluation of an intervention that aimed to increase consumption of nutritious foods by supporting food-producing firms in Kenya. In doing so, we demonstrate how multiple methods, including those from other disciplines, can be used to evaluate a complex food systems intervention. <h3>Methods</h3> Four methods focused on food-producing firms and their management, including a survey of intervention participants (<i>n</i> = 83 individuals), a "laboratory-in-the-field" experiment (<i>n</i> = 83 individuals), baseline/endline data on firm performance (<i>n</i> = 71 firms), and semistructured interviews (<i>n</i> = 19 firms). Three methods focused on consumers in neighborhoods targeted by a supported firm: a randomized field experiment tested effects of making a supported product exhaustively available on consumers' purchases and consumption (<i>n</i> = 1295 consumers); 3 discrete choice experiments (<i>n</i> = 1295 consumers) tested factors influencing consumers' willingness to pay for foods with relevant characteristics. <h3>Results</h3> Among firms, we saw suggestive evidence of increased networking and business relationships, while laboratory-in-the-field experiments indicated the intervention might foster cooperation among participants. Qualitative interviews suggested that the intervention enabled firms to increase production, improve management, increase revenues, and lower costs. Baseline/endline data confirmed a positive effect only on the launch of new products and hiring workers. In the field experiment, consumption of the supported product increased in areas where it was made available relative to a control group, but this did not increase overall consumption of the food type or dietary diversity. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Results showed positive signs of the intervention improving firm-level outcomes but limited impact on consumers' diet quality. The evaluation also demonstrates how diverse methods can be used to evaluate complex interventions.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A mixed methods assessment of technical and financial assistance to small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises in Kenya's food sector

  Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy · 2024-02-29 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract We study the impact of providing consulting services and major capital infusions to small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the food sector in Kenya. We exploit a quasi‐experimental design that matches treated firms with comparable firms that applied for the same support but were just short of scoring sufficient points to receive this support. Using mixed methods, this quantitative analysis is supplemented by in‐depth qualitative interviews, which provide further insights into the workings of the program. The program helped SMEs launch new products and increased numbers of employees. Interviewees described higher sales resulting from the major capital infusions they received.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Does increasing the availability of a nutritious food produced by a <scp>small‐ and medium‐sized enterprise</scp> increase its consumption? Evidence from a field experiment in Kenya

  Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy · 2023 · 5 citations

  • Business
  • Agricultural economics
  • Commerce

  Abstract Many development programs rely on the idea that increasing profitability of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) could increase availability of nutritious foods among low‐income consumers. We designed a randomized controlled trial in which we made a specific nutritious product produced by an SME exhaustively available in low‐income local markets. We find that compared to control markets, consumers in treated markets purchased and consumed more of this product and less of competing brands with added sugar and fat. However, overall consumption for the product category was not increased and there was no change in the consumption of other related but potentially less nutritious foods. Our findings suggest the need for alternative policies to increase consumption of nutritious foods.

  PublisherDOI

• Dairy workers' preferences for compensatory benefits: A field choice experiment with US immigrants and students

  Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association · 2023-05-03 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract We designed a discrete choice experiment to elicit preferences for compensatory benefits among two sets of workers in the dairy sector: immigrants and US college students planning to work in the sector. We find that immigrants rank benefits as follows (highest to lowest): retirement plan, health insurance, milk quality incentive bonus, housing assistance, and a bonus meat allotment. Immigrant workers are willing to pay more for a retirement plan and health insurance than college students. Neither group prefers to work more than 48 h per week. Our findings inform ongoing debates on the role of immigrant and industry‐trained dairy workers.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Happy to take some risk: Estimating the effect of induced emotions on risk preferences

  Journal of Economic Psychology · 2022 · 31 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Psychology
  • Social psychology
  • Cognitive psychology
  PublisherDOI

• Digital Innovations in Crop Insurance Product Design

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2022-12-31

  dataset1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Digital Innovations in Crop Insurance Product Design

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2022-12-31

  dataset1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Digital Innovations in Crop Insurance Product Design

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2022-12-31

  dataset1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Mywish K. Maredia

  7 shared

• D.A. Hills

  6 shared

• D.A. Hills

  University of Oxford

  5 shared

• Jarrad Farris

  Economic Research Service

  4 shared

• Songqing Jin

  Michigan State University

  3 shared

• Eduardo Nakasone

  3 shared

• Vincenzina Caputo

  Michigan State University

  3 shared

• David L. Ortega

  Michigan State University

  2 shared