IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/hlthec/v21y2012i7p852-864.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Improving Food Choices Among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients

Author

Listed:
  • Wen You
  • Paul D. Mitchell
  • Rodolfo M. Nayga

Abstract

We used a principal–agent framework to examine the feasibility of two proposed modifications to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program with the goal of encouraging healthier food choices among program participants. Specifically, we analyzed two types of contract: a restricted contract and an incentive contract. The restricted contract did not allow the purchase of unhealthy foods with program benefits, but compensated participants by increasing total benefits. The incentive contract provided increased benefits that varied according to the percentage of healthy foods purchased with program benefits. The theoretical results revealed the mechanisms for the two alternative contracts, the conditions under which each would be effective, and the key empirical questions to be examined for future policy analysis. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Wen You & Paul D. Mitchell & Rodolfo M. Nayga, 2012. "Improving Food Choices Among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(7), pages 852-864, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:21:y:2012:i:7:p:852-864
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.1758
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.1758
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/hec.1758?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. Unknown, 2004. "Effects Of Food Assistance And Nutrition Programs On Nutrition And Health: Volume 3, Literature Review," Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Reports 33863, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Baum, Charles, 2007. "The Effects of Food Stamps on Obesity," Contractor and Cooperator Reports 292009, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Mas-Colell, Andreu & Whinston, Michael D. & Green, Jerry R., 1995. "Microeconomic Theory," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195102680.
    4. Stewart, Hayden & Blisard, Noel, 2006. "The Thrifty Food Plan and low-income households in the United States: What food groups are being neglected?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 469-482, October.
    5. Herman, D.R. & Harrison, G.G. & Afifi, A.A. & Jenks, E., 2008. "Effect of a targeted subsidy on intake of fruits and vegetables among low-income women in the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 98(1), pages 98-105.
    6. Guthrie, Joanne F. & Frazao, Elizabeth & Andrews, Margaret S. & Smallwood, David M., 2007. "Improving Food Choices-Can Food Stamps Do More?," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, pages 1-7, May.
    7. Parke E. Wilde & Paul E. McNamara & Christine K. Ranney, 1999. "The Effect of Income and Food Programs on Dietary Quality: A Seemingly Unrelated Regression Analysis with Error Components," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 81(4), pages 959-971.
    8. Guthrie, Joanne F. & Andrews, Margaret S. & Frazao, Elizabeth & Leibtag, Ephraim S. & Lin, Biing-Hwan & Mancino, Lisa & Nord, Mark & Prell, Mark A. & Smallwood, David M. & Variyam, Jayachandran N. & V, 2007. "Can Food Stamps Do More to Improve Food Choices? An Economic Perspective," Economic Information Bulletin 59417, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    9. Karen J. Morgan, 1986. "Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Dietary Status: An Appraisal," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 68(5), pages 1240-1246.
    10. Zhuo Chen & Steven T. Yen & David B. Eastwood, 2005. "Effects of Food Stamp Participation on Body Weight and Obesity," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 87(5), pages 1167-1173.
    11. J. William Levedahl, 1995. "A Theoretical and Empirical Evaluation of the Functional Forms Used to Estimate the Food Expenditure Equation of Food Stamp Recipients," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 77(4), pages 960-968.
    12. Ver Ploeg, Michele & Mancino, Lisa & Lin, Biing-Hwan & Wang, Chia-Yih, 2007. "The vanishing weight gap: Trends in obesity among adult food stamp participants (US) (1976-2002)," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 20-36, March.
    13. repec:mpr:mprres:2567 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Morgan, Karen J., 1986. "Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Dietary Status: An Appraisal'," 1986 Annual Meeting, July 27-30, Reno, Nevada 278063, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    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. Norbert Wilson, 2016. "When the Cupboards Are Bare: Nudging Food Pantry Clients to Healthier Foods," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 125-133.

    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. Just, David R. & Gabrielyan, Gnel, 2018. "Influencing the food choices of SNAP consumers: Lessons from economics, psychology and marketing," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 309-317.
    2. Alston, Julian M. & Mullally, Conner C. & Sumner, Daniel A. & Townsend, Marilyn & Vosti, Stephen A., 2009. "Likely effects on obesity from proposed changes to the US food stamp program," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 176-184, April.
    3. Han, Euna & Powell, Lisa M. & Isgor, Zeynep, 2012. "Supplemental nutrition assistance program and body weight outcomes: The role of economic contextual factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(12), pages 1874-1881.
    4. Dallongeville, Jean & Dauchet, Luc & de Mouzon, Olivier & Réquillart, Vincent & Soler, Louis-Georges, 2010. "Are Fruit and Vegetable Stamp Policies Cost Effective?," IDEI Working Papers 648, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse.
    5. Zagorsky, Jay L. & Smith, Patricia K., 2009. "Does the U.S. Food Stamp Program contribute to adult weight gain?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 246-258, July.
    6. Han, Euna & Powell, Lisa M. & Pugach, Oksana, 2011. "The heterogenous relationship of food stamp participation with body mass: Quantile regression model," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 499-506, August.
    7. Zhuo Chen & Qi Zhang, 2011. "Nutrigenomics Hypothesis: Examining the Association Between Food Stamp Program Participation and Bodyweight Among Low-Income Women," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 508-520, September.
    8. Chad D. Meyerhoefer & Muzhe Yang, 2011. "The Relationship between Food Assistance and Health: A Review of the Literature and Empirical Strategies for Identifying Program Effects," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 33(3), pages 304-344.
    9. Charles L. Baum & Shin-Yi Chou, 2016. "Why has the prevalence of obesity doubled?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 251-267, June.
    10. 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.
    11. Nicholas, Lauren Hersch, 2011. "Can Food Stamps help to reduce Medicare spending on diabetes?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, January.
    12. MacEwan, Joanna P. & Smith, Aaron & Alston, Julian M., 2016. "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, energy balance, and weight gain," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 103-120.
    13. Charles L. Baum II, 2010. "The Effects of Food Stamps on Weight Gained by Expectant Mothers," Working Papers 201002, Middle Tennessee State University, Department of Economics and Finance.
    14. Susan Chen & Le Wang, 2021. "SNAP participation, diet quality, and obesity: robust evidence with estimation techniques without external instrumental variables," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 1641-1667, September.
    15. Mays, Matthew & Smith, Travis A., 2018. "How Does SNAP Participation Affect Rates of Diabetes?," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 273905, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Maximilian D. Schmeiser, 2012. "The impact of long‐term participation in the supplemental nutrition assistance program on child obesity," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(4), pages 386-404, April.
    17. Alston, Julian M. & Sumner, Daniel A. & Vosti, Stephen A., 2008. "Farm subsidies and obesity in the United States: National evidence and international comparisons," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 470-479, December.
    18. Rose, Donald & Gunderson, Craig & Oliveira, Victor, 1998. "Socio-Economic Determinants of Food Insecurity in the United States: Evidence from the SIPP and CSFII Datasets," Technical Bulletins 184377, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    19. D M Zimmer, 2023. "The effect of food stamps on fibre intake," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 28(2), pages 71-86, September.
    20. Ver Ploeg, Michele & Mancino, Lisa & Lin, Biing-Hwan & Wang, Chia-Yih, 2007. "The vanishing weight gap: Trends in obesity among adult food stamp participants (US) (1976-2002)," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 20-36, March.

    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:hlthec:v:21:y:2012:i:7:p:852-864. 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/cgi-bin/jhome/5749 .

    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.