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Abstract
This dissertation comprises three essays on welfare changes among individuals in three different developing countries: Kenya, China, and Tanzania. Applying Prospect theory to experimental data, the first essay tackles a reason of the low uptake rate of weather index insurance among smallholder farmers although this risk management tool can prevent significant income losses due to rainfall shocks. The second essay highlights the importance of product variety and quality in constructing a cost-of-living index, a commonly used metric to assess consumers' welfare. The third essay investigates how households' nutrient intake changes in response to variations in food prices and total expenditures by estimating food demand systems and identify important foods for improved diet quality.