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Full-Text Articles in Income Distribution
The Effects Of Benefit Timing And Income Fungibility On Food Purchasing Decisions Among Snap Households, Joshua P. Berning, Gregory Colson, Jeffery H. Dorfman, Travis A. Smith, Xiaosi Yang
The Effects Of Benefit Timing And Income Fungibility On Food Purchasing Decisions Among Snap Households, Joshua P. Berning, Gregory Colson, Jeffery H. Dorfman, Travis A. Smith, Xiaosi Yang
University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest nutritional safety net in the United States. Prior research has found that participants have higher consumption shortly after receiving their benefits, followed by lower consumption towards the end of the benefit month. This “SNAP benefit cycle” has been found to have negative effects on beneficiaries. We examine two behavioral responses of SNAP participants that may work in tandem to drive much of the cycle: short-run impatience – a higher preference to consume today; and fungibility of income – the degree of substitutability between a SNAP dollar and a cash dollar. Using …