IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v41y2013icp18-27.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

First of the month effect: Does it apply across food retail channels?

Author

Listed:
  • Damon, Amy L.
  • King, Robert P.
  • Leibtag, Ephraim

Abstract

In this study we use detailed daily scanner data on household food purchases to examine monthly food expenditure patterns across food retail channels. We compare food expenditure patterns in high and low-income households comparing those where Supplementary Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) is received in the first 10days of the month versus households which receive SNAP over the first 15days of the month. We find that food expenditure patterns vary systematically across the month within different retail channels by income and SNAP payment schedules. Low-income households in early SNAP distribution areas decrease their grocery and mass/club/superstore expenditures at the end of the calendar month and supplement this decrease with increased food expenditures in convenience stores and food away from home. Households in staggered SNAP payment areas show far fewer systematic patterns given the more distributed payment system.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:41:y:2013:i:c:p:18-27
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.04.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919213000365
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.04.005?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hall, Robert E, 1978. "Stochastic Implications of the Life Cycle-Permanent Income Hypothesis: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(6), pages 971-987, December.
    2. Zeldes, Stephen P, 1989. "Consumption and Liquidity Constraints: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(2), pages 305-346, April.
    3. Martin Browning & M. Dolores Collado, 2001. "The Response of Expenditures to Anticipated Income Changes: Panel Data Estimates," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(3), pages 681-692, June.
    4. Stewart, Hayden & Dong, Diansheng, 2011. "Variation in retail costs for fresh vegetables and salty snacks across communities in the United States," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 128-135, April.
    5. Tullio Jappelli & Jörn-Steffen Pischke & Nicholas S. Souleles, 1998. "Testing For Liquidity Constraints In Euler Equations With Complementary Data Sources," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(2), pages 251-262, May.
    6. Einav, Liran & Leibtag, Ephraim S. & Nevo, Aviv, 2008. "On the Accuracy of Nielsen Homescan Data," Economic Research Report 56490, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    7. Melvin Stephens Jr., 2003. ""3rd of tha Month": Do Social Security Recipients Smooth Consumption Between Checks?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 406-422, March.
    8. C. Fritz Foley, 2011. "Welfare Payments and Crime," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 97-112, February.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. repec:fth:pennfi:69 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Kunreuther, Howard, 1973. "Why the Poor May Pay More for Food: Theoretical and Empirical Evidence," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 46(3), pages 368-383, July.
    14. Stephens Melvin, 2006. "Paycheque Receipt and the Timing of Consumption," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(513), pages 680-701, July.
    15. Huffman, David B. & Barenstein, Matias, 2004. "Riches to Rags Every Month? The Fall in Consumption Expenditures Between Paydays," IZA Discussion Papers 1430, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. James J. Heckman & Thomas E. Macurdy, 1980. "A Life Cycle Model of Female Labour Supply," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 47(1), pages 47-74.
    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. Fayaz Farkhad, Bita & Meyerhoefer, Chad D. & Dearden, James A., 2017. "The within-month pattern of medical utilization among SNAP participants," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258361, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. 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.
    3. Marco T. C. Stam & Marike G. Knoef & Anke A. T. Ramakers, 2024. "Crime over the welfare payment cycle," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(3), pages 1309-1334, July.
    4. Baylis, Katherine R. & Fan, Linlin & Gundersen, Craig & Michele, Ver Ploeg & James, Ziliak, 2014. "The Location and Timing of SNAP Purchases," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170200, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Heflin, Colleen & Arteaga, Irma & Hodges, Leslie & Ndashiyme, Jean Felix & Rabbitt, Matthew P., 2019. "SNAP benefits and childhood asthma," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 203-211.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Agustina Laurito & Amy Ellen Schwartz, 2019. "Does School Lunch Fill the “SNAP Gap” at the End of the Month?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(1), pages 49-82, July.
    9. Zaffou, Madiha & Campbell, Benjamin & Rabinowitz, Adam, 2016. "Spillover Effect of Participation in Women, Infant and Children (WIC) Program on Consumer’s Purchasing Behavior of Private Label Goods," 2016 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2016, San Antonio, Texas 230100, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    10. 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).
    11. Troubat, Nathalie & Grünberger, Klaus, 2017. "Impact of survey design in the estimation of habitual food consumption," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 132-145.
    12. Leschewski, Andrea M. & Weatherspoon, Dave D., 2017. "SNAP Household Food Expenditures Using Non-SNAP Payment Methods," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 259139, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. 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).
    14. Fiedler, John L. & Mwangi, Dena M., 2016. "Improving household consumption and expenditure surveys’ food consumption metrics: Developing a strategic approach to the unfinished agenda:," IFPRI discussion papers 1570, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    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. 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).
    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. 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.
    19. Lauren Chenarides & Alessandro Bonanno & Anne Palmer, 2021. "If You Build Them… Will it Matter? Food Stores' Presence and Perceived Barriers to Purchasing Healthy Foods in the Northeastern U.S," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(3), pages 1076-1100, September.

    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. 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.
    2. 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).
    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. 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, MIT Press, vol. 2(4), pages 511-534, Fall.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Melvin Stephens & Takashi Unayama, 2011. "The Consumption Response to Seasonal Income: Evidence from Japanese Public Pension Benefits," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(4), pages 86-118, October.
    8. Todd, Jessica E., 2013. "Revisiting the SNAP Cycle of Food Intake: Investigation Heterogeneity and Diet Quality," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150295, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. 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.
    10. Baugh, Brian & Ben-David, Itzhak & Park, Hoonsuk, 2013. "Disentangling Financial Constraints, Precautionary Savings, and Myopia: Household Behavior Surrounding Federal Tax Returns," Working Paper Series 2013-20, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    11. Marco T. C. Stam & Marike G. Knoef & Anke A. T. Ramakers, 2024. "Crime over the welfare payment cycle," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(3), pages 1309-1334, July.
    12. 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.
    13. Melvin Stephens Jr., 2002. "Paycheck Receipt and the Timing of Consumption," NBER Working Papers 9356, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Mika Akesaka & Peter Eibich & Chie Hanaoka & Hitoshi Shigeoka, 2023. "Temporal Instability of Risk Preference among the Poor: Evidence from Payday Cycles," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 68-99, October.
    15. Cotti, Chad D. & Gordanier, John M. & Ozturk, Orgul D., 2021. "Does distributing SNAP benefits later in the month smooth expenditures?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    16. 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).
    17. Damon, Amy L. & King, Robert P. & Leibtag, Ephraim S., 2006. "Household Food Expenditures Across Income Groups: Do Poor Households Spend Differently than Rich Ones?," Conference Papers 6643, University of Minnesota, Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy.
    18. White, Justin S. & Basu, Sanjay, 2016. "Does the benefits schedule of cash assistance programs affect the purchase of temptation goods? Evidence from Peru," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 70-89.
    19. Albert, Aaron & Wozny, Nathan, 2023. "Income variation and excess sensitivity of goods-intensive leisure," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    20. Jaoaqin Alegre & Llorenc Pou, 2008. "Further evidence of excess sensitivity of consumption? Nonseparability among goods and heterogeneity across households," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(7), pages 931-948.

    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:eee:jfpoli:v:41:y:2013:i:c:p:18-27. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    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.