Graduation Year
2026
Date of Submission
4-2026
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Economics
Reader 1
Angela Vossmeyer
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2026 Katherine J Resendiz
Abstract
This paper examines whether Medicaid coverage of and spending on FDA-approved weight loss GLP-1s affects fast food industry outcomes at the state level. I use a state-level panel dataset spanning 2017-2024 and a two-way fixed effects regression model to exploit variation in Medicaid GLP-1 policies and reimbursement spending across states and over time. I find no significant effect of coverage decisions or aggregate GLP-1 Medicaid spending on fast food establishments, revenue, employment, or wages. However, disaggregated by drug, Zepbound Medicaid spending is negatively and significantly associated with fast food establishments at the 5% level. This is the strongest finding, holding across all drug measurement approaches, robust to dropping 2020, and strengthening when normalized by Medicaid enrollment. Zepbound also shows a negative association with fast food employment at the 10% level. This result is sensitive to the measurement approach but is robust to dropping 2020 and significant across all measures when normalized by enrollment. Revenue is consistently negative but insignificant in the baseline, becoming significant when normalized. Wegovy, which dominates in spending and prescriptions, and Saxenda, the longest-approved drug, show no significant effects on any outcomes despite these relative advantages, suggesting that drug potency, rather than prevalence or lifespan, drives the relationship. These findings provide the first state-level evidence that public GLP-1 spending may have emerging but detectable effects on the fast food industry.
Recommended Citation
Resendiz, Katherine J., "Do GLP-1 Weight Loss Drugs Affect Fast Food Industry Performance? Evidence from State Medicaid Programs" (2026). CMC Senior Theses. 4084.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/4084
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
