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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Economics

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

2017

Health

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Using Natural Experiments To Identify The Effects Of Snap On Child And Adult Health, Daniel P. Miller, Taryn W. Morrissey Jan 2017

Using Natural Experiments To Identify The Effects Of Snap On Child And Adult Health, Daniel P. Miller, Taryn W. Morrissey

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP; formerly known as food stamps) can have important impacts that extend beyond its intended aims to improve food security and nutrition, particularly for health and health care use. This project examined the impact of SNAP receipt and benefit level on the health of adults and children using two natural experiments to address selection bias: 1) state policy variation in SNAP in an instrumental variables (IV) analysis; and, 2) the temporary expansion of SNAP benefits and eligibility provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in a difference-in-difference (DD) approach. We used restricted data …


The Real Value Of Snap Benefits And Health Outcomes, Hilary W. Hoynes, Erin Bronchetti, Garret Christensen Jan 2017

The Real Value Of Snap Benefits And Health Outcomes, Hilary W. Hoynes, Erin Bronchetti, Garret Christensen

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

The food stamp program (SNAP) is one of the most important elements of the social safety net and is the second largest anti-poverty program for children in the U.S. (only the EITC raises more children above poverty). The program varies little across states and over time, which creates challenges for quasi-experimental evaluation. Notably, SNAP benefit levels are fixed across 48 states; but local food prices vary widely, leading to substantial variation in the real value of SNAP benefits. In this study, we leverage time variation in the real value of the SNAP benefit across markets to examine the effects of …