IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jpamgt/v40y2021i3p744-773.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Electronic Benefit Transfer and Food Expenditure Cycles

Author

Listed:
  • Michael A. Kuhn

Abstract

Previous research shows that the way transfer income is disbursed can affect what households purchase with that income. In this paper, I provide evidence that disbursement technique can affect the timing of purchases as well. I examine the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which switched on a state‐by‐state basis from cash‐similar food coupons to Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT)—a secure debit card—from 1993 to 2004. I find that EBT mitigated boom and bust cycles in food spending associated with SNAP disbursement. This effect is entirely driven by households with children (about two thirds of the SNAP population), who experienced more severe cycles prior to EBT. The effect operates only through the intensive margin—the amount spent on food during a shopping trip—and not at all on the extensive margin—the likelihood of going food shopping.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael A. Kuhn, 2021. "Electronic Benefit Transfer and Food Expenditure Cycles," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(3), pages 744-773, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:40:y:2021:i:3:p:744-773
    DOI: 10.1002/pam.22320
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22320
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/pam.22320?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Esther Duflo, 2003. "Grandmothers and Granddaughters: Old-Age Pensions and Intrahousehold Allocation in South Africa," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 17(1), pages 1-25, June.
    2. Neeraj Kaushal & Qin Gao, 2011. "Food Stamp Program and Consumption Choices," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Aspects of Obesity, pages 223-247, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. repec:mpr:mprres:6936 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Atasoy, Sibel & Mills, Bradford F. & Parmeter, Christopher F., 2010. "The Dynamics of Food Stamp Program Participation: A Lagged Dependent Variable Approach," 2010 Annual Meeting, July 25-27, 2010, Denver, Colorado 60963, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Simone Schaner, 2017. "The Cost of Convenience?: Transaction Costs, Bargaining Power, and Savings Account Use in Kenya," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(4), pages 919-945.
    6. Matthew O. Jackson & Leeat Yariv, 2014. "Present Bias and Collective Dynamic Choice in the Lab," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(12), pages 4184-4204, December.
    7. Cotti, Chad & Gordanier, John & Ozturk, Orgul, 2018. "When does it count? The timing of food stamp receipt and educational performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 40-50.
    8. Andreoni, James & Kuhn, Michael A. & List, John A. & Samek, Anya & Sokal, Kevin & Sprenger, Charles, 2019. "Toward an understanding of the development of time preferences: Evidence from field experiments," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 1-1.
    9. repec:mpr:mprres:3371 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Laura A. Castner & Allen L. Schirm, "undated". "State Food Stamp Participation Rates for the Working Poor in 2001," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 100edc92e066460bb98cff94d, Mathematica Policy Research.
    11. Damon, Amy L. & King, Robert P. & Leibtag, Ephraim, 2013. "First of the month effect: Does it apply across food retail channels?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 18-27.
    12. Stéphane Zuber, 2011. "The aggregation of preferences: can we ignore the past?," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 70(3), pages 367-384, March.
    13. Michael Grossman & Naci H. Mocan, 2011. "Economic Aspects of Obesity," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gros09-1, July.
    14. Parsons, Christopher A. & Van Wesep, Edward D., 2013. "The timing of pay," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 373-397.
    15. Orazio Attanasio & Erich Battistin & Alice Mesnard, 2012. "Food and Cash Transfers: Evidence from Colombia," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(559), pages 92-124, March.
    16. Browning, Martin & Francois Bourguignon & Pierre-Andre Chiappori & Valerie Lechene, 1994. "Income and Outcomes: A Structural Model of Intrahousehold Allocation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(6), pages 1067-1096, December.
    17. Sebastian Calonico & Matias D. Cattaneo & Max H. Farrell & Roc ́ıo Titiunik, 2017. "rdrobust: Software for regression-discontinuity designs," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 17(2), pages 372-404, June.
    18. Claudia R. Sahm & Matthew D. Shapiro & Joel Slemrod, 2012. "Check in the Mail or More in the Paycheck: Does the Effectiveness of Fiscal Stimulus Depend on How It Is Delivered?," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 216-250, August.
    19. Manasi Deshpande & Yue Li, 2019. "Who Is Screened Out? Application Costs and the Targeting of Disability Programs," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 213-248, November.
    20. Jamison, Dean T. & Jamison, Julian, 2011. "Characterizing the Amount and Speed of Discounting Procedures," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 1-56, April.
    21. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    22. Jillian B. Carr & Analisa Packham, 2019. "SNAP Benefits and Crime: Evidence from Changing Disbursement Schedules," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(2), pages 310-325, May.
    23. Parke E. Wilde & Christine K. Ranney, 2000. "The Monthly Food Stamp Cycle: Shooping Frequency and Food Intake Decisions in an Endogenous Switching Regression Framework," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 82(1), pages 200-213.
    24. Laura A. Castner & Allen L. Schirm, 2006. "Empirical Bayes Shrinkage Estimates of State Food Stamp Participation Rates in 2002 and 2003 for All Eligible People and the Working Poor," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 73eae3fb723748af96e393942, Mathematica Policy Research.
    25. Shapiro, Jesse M., 2005. "Is there a daily discount rate? Evidence from the food stamp nutrition cycle," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2-3), pages 303-325, February.
    26. Richard Wright & Erdal Tekin & Volkan Topalli & Chandler McClellan & Timothy Dickinson & Richard Rosenfeld, 2017. "Less Cash, Less Crime: Evidence from the Electronic Benefit Transfer Program," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(2), pages 361-383.
    27. Harris, Christopher & Laibson, David, 2001. "Dynamic Choices of Hyperbolic Consumers," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(4), pages 935-957, July.
    28. Justine Hastings & Ebonya Washington, 2010. "The First of the Month Effect: Consumer Behavior and Store Responses," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 142-162, May.
    29. Dobkin, Carlos & Puller, Steven L., 2007. "The effects of government transfers on monthly cycles in drug abuse, hospitalization and mortality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(11-12), pages 2137-2157, December.
    30. Grossman, Michael & Mocan, Naci (ed.), 2011. "Economic Aspects of Obesity," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226310091, December.
    31. Shelly J. Lundberg & Robert A. Pollak & Terence J. Wales, 1997. "Do Husbands and Wives Pool Their Resources? Evidence from the United Kingdom Child Benefit," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 32(3), pages 463-480.
    32. repec:mpr:mprres:5056 is not listed on IDEAS
    33. Moffitt, Robert, 1983. "An Economic Model of Welfare Stigma," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(5), pages 1023-1035, December.
    34. Jamison Dean T. & Jamison Julian, 2011. "Characterizing the Amount and Speed of Discounting Procedures," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 2(2), pages 1-56, April.
    35. Mark Aguiar & Erik Hurst, 2005. "Consumption versus Expenditure," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(5), pages 919-948, October.
    36. Kuhn, Michael A., 2018. "Who feels the calorie crunch and when? The impact of school meals on cyclical food insecurity," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 27-38.
    37. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    38. Allen L. Schirm & Laura A. Castner, 2002. "Empirical Bayes Shrinkage Estimates of State Food Stamp Participation Rates for 1994-1999," Mathematica Policy Research Reports c721b3e5b8f647a8a4efd8363, Mathematica Policy Research.
    39. Jacob Goldin & Tatiana Homonoff & Katherine Meckel, 2022. "Issuance and Incidence: SNAP Benefit Cycles and Grocery Prices," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 152-178, February.
    40. C. Fritz Foley, 2011. "Welfare Payments and Crime," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 97-112, February.
    41. J. P. Ziliak & C. Gundersen & D. N. Figlio, "undated". "Welfare Reform and Food Stamp Caseload Dynamics," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1215-00, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    42. Karen S Hamrick & Margaret Andrews, 2016. "SNAP Participants’ Eating Patterns over the Benefit Month: A Time Use Perspective," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(7), pages 1-18, July.
    43. Laura A. Castner & Allen L. Schirm, 2006. "State Food Stamp Participation Rates for the Working Poor in 2003," Mathematica Policy Research Reports eb1041571fc344509d3ca58b9, Mathematica Policy Research.
    44. David N. Figlio & Craig Gundersen & James P. Ziliak, 2000. "The Effects of the Macroeconomy and Welfare Reform on Food Stamp Caseloads," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 82(3), pages 635-641.
    45. repec:mpr:mprres:4990 is not listed on IDEAS
    46. Simone Schaner, 2015. "Do Opposites Detract? Intrahousehold Preference Heterogeneity and Inefficient Strategic Savings," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(2), pages 135-174, April.
    47. repec:mpr:mprres:3516 is not listed on IDEAS
    48. repec:mpr:mprres:6935 is not listed on IDEAS
    49. Gustavo J. Bobonis, 2009. "Is the Allocation of Resources within the Household Efficient? New Evidence from a Randomized Experiment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 117(3), pages 453-503, June.
    50. Laura A. Castner & Allen L. Schirm, 2004. "Empirical Bayes Shrinkage Estimates of State Food Stamp Participation Rates in 1999-2001 for All Eligible People and for the Working Poor," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 43d02a03ee8141299ac3862a8, Mathematica Policy Research.
    51. Christian Gollier & Richard Zeckhauser, 2005. "Aggregation of Heterogeneous Time Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(4), pages 878-896, August.
    52. Orazio P. Attanasio & Valérie Lechene, 2014. "Efficient Responses to Targeted Cash Transfers," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 122(1), pages 178-222.
    53. Caroline Danielson & Jacob Alex Klerman, 2006. "Why Did the Food Stamp Caseload Decline (and Rise)? Effects of Policies on the Economy," Working Papers 386, RAND Corporation.
    54. Matthew O. Jackson & Leeat Yariv, 2015. "Collective Dynamic Choice: The Necessity of Time Inconsistency," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(4), pages 150-178, November.
    55. repec:mpr:mprres:4354 is not listed on IDEAS
    56. Jessica E. Todd, 2015. "Revisiting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cycle of food intake: Investigating heterogeneity, diet quality, and a large boost in benefit amounts," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 37(3), pages 437-458.
    57. Lin-Chi Hsu, 2017. "The Timing Of Welfare Payments And Intimate Partner Violence," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(2), pages 1017-1031, April.
    58. repec:mpr:mprres:4351 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dahan, Momi & Sayag, Doron, 2024. "Scarcity and consumption priorities," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Melvin, Shamar & Smith, Travis A., 2022. "From paper to plastic: How the transition to EBT affected SNAP enrollment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jillian B. Carr & Analisa Packham, 2021. "SNAP Schedules and Domestic Violence," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(2), pages 412-452, March.
    2. Cotti, Chad D. & Gordanier, John M. & Ozturk, Orgul D., 2020. "Hunger pains? SNAP timing and emergency room visits," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    3. Kuhn, Michael A., 2018. "Who feels the calorie crunch and when? The impact of school meals on cyclical food insecurity," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 27-38.
    4. Burlando, Alfredo & Kuhnk, Michael A. & Prina, Silvia, 2023. "Too Fast, Too Furious? Digital Credit Delivery Speed and Repayment Rates," IZA Discussion Papers 16451, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Marks, Mindy & Prina, Silvia & Tahaj, Redina, 2023. "Short-Term Labor Supply Response to the Timing of Transfer Payments: Evidence from the SNAP Program," IZA Discussion Papers 16299, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Lee, Ji Yong & Nayga Jr, Rodolfo M. & Jo, Young & Restrepo, Brandon J., 2022. "Time use and eating patterns of SNAP participants over the benefit month," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    7. Pourya Valizadeh & Travis A. Smith & Michele Ver Ploeg, 2021. "Do SNAP Households Pay Different Prices throughout the Benefit Month?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(3), pages 1051-1075, September.
    8. Marks, Mindy & Prina, Silvia & Gernhardt, Roy, 2023. "Government Shutdown and SNAP Disbursements: Effects on Household Expenditures," IZA Discussion Papers 16452, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Denni Tommasi, 2016. "Household Responses to cash Transfers," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2016-20, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    10. Dahan, Momi & Sayag, Doron, 2024. "Scarcity and consumption priorities," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    11. Jeffrey H Dorfman & Christian Gregory & Zhongyuan Liu & Ran Huo, 2019. "Re-Examining the SNAP Benefit Cycle Allowing for Heterogeneity," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 41(3), pages 404-433.
    12. Todd, Jessica E. & Gregory, Christian, 2018. "Changes in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program real benefits and daily caloric intake among adults," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 111-120.
    13. Denni Tommasi, 2015. "How Cash Transfers Improve Child Development," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2015-19, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    14. Laurent Denant-Boemont & Enrico Diecidue & Olivier l’Haridon, 2017. "Patience and time consistency in collective decisions," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 20(1), pages 181-208, March.
    15. Karen S Hamrick & Margaret Andrews, 2016. "SNAP Participants’ Eating Patterns over the Benefit Month: A Time Use Perspective," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(7), pages 1-18, July.
    16. Brett Watson & Mouhcine Guettabi & Matthew Reimer, 2020. "Universal Cash and Crime," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(4), pages 678-689, October.
    17. Chad Cotti & John Gordanier & Orgul Ozturk, 2016. "Eat (and Drink) Better Tonight: Food Stamp Benefit Timing and Drunk Driving Fatalities," American Journal of Health Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(4), pages 511-534, Fall.
    18. Timothy K. M. Beatty & Marianne P. Bitler & Xinzhe Huang Cheng & Cynthia van der Werf, 2019. "SNAP and Paycheck Cycles," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(1), pages 18-48, July.
    19. Elena Castellari & Chad Cotti & John Gordanier & Orgul Ozturk, 2017. "Does the Timing of Food Stamp Distribution Matter? A Panel‐Data Analysis of Monthly Purchasing Patterns of US Households," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(11), pages 1380-1393, November.
    20. Sam Sims, 2021. "The impact of timing of benefit payments on children's outcomes," CEPEO Briefing Note Series 11, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Feb 2021.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:40:y:2021:i:3:p:744-773. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/34787/home .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.