How Are SNAP Benefits Spent? Evidence from a Retail Panel
2018 ◽
Vol 108
(12)
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pp. 3493-3540
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Keyword(s):
We use a novel retail panel with detailed transaction records to study the effect of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on household spending. We use administrative data to motivate three approaches to causal inference. The marginal propensity to consume SNAP-eligible food (MPCF) out of SNAP benefits is 0.5 to 0.6. The MPCF out of cash is much smaller. These patterns obtain even for households for whom SNAP benefits are economically equivalent to cash because their benefits are below their food spending. Using a semiparametric framework, we reject the hypothesis that households respect the fungibility of money. A model with mental accounting can match the facts. (JEL D12, H75, I12, I18, I38)
2021 ◽
Vol 18
(6)
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pp. 3178
2009 ◽
Vol 109
(9)
◽
pp. A97
2018 ◽
Vol 61
(3-4)
◽
pp. 488-499
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2019 ◽
Vol 179
(1)
◽
pp. 63
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2016 ◽
Vol 48
(7)
◽
pp. S77
2018 ◽
Vol 50
(9)
◽
pp. 931-936
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2017 ◽
Vol 52
(2)
◽
pp. S115-S117