The video entertainment industry is experiencing increases in over-the-top (OTT) video usage and cord-cutting behavior. Using unique panel data from 2012–2016, we document the behavior of the 2.4% of households who “cut the cord” annually. After dropping TV, these households increase internet usage by 22%, reduce payments to multiple-system operators (MSOs) by 50%, and 16% acquire new OTT video subscriptions. These results indicate meaningful substitution between OTT video and TV and suggest that competition authorities should consider broadening market definitions. MSOs appear to have little incentive to degrade OTT video, despite OTT video's contribution to declining TV revenues.

Food purchases differ substantially across countries. We use detailed household-level data from the United States, France, and the United Kingdom to (i) document these differences; (ii) estimate a demand system for food and nutrients; and (iii) simulate counterfactual choices if households faced prices and nutritional characteristics from other countries. We find that differences in prices and characteristics are important and can explain some difference (e.g., United States–France difference in caloric intake) but generally cannot explain many of the compositional patterns by themselves. Instead, it seems an interaction between the economic environment and differences in preferences is needed to explain cross-country differences. (JEL D12, I12, L11, L66, Q11)