Ascertaining Who is Eligible for SNAP: Are We Using the Correct Metric?
AAEA members release new research in JAAEA
Recently, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has received more attention due to proposals to restrict SNAP purchase due to emphases emerging from “Make America Healthy Again”.
In the new article “Ascertaining who is eligible for SNAP: Are we using the correct metric?” published in the Journal of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association, Min-Fang Wei from the National Taiwan University and Craig Gundersen from Baylor University find out if the choice of eligibility criteria for SNAP influence the relevant sample of eligible participants.
The authors say, “Our primary findings are that the composition of the SNAP-eligible sample does differ depending on the choice of eligibility metric; relaxing the asset test has a much larger impact on eligibility than raising the gross income threshold; and the association between SNAP and food insecurity is robust to the choice of eligible sample once one controls for observed covariates.”
“The central implications in terms of research are that the choice of eligibility sample does lead to decidedly different samples of eligible households but that, at least in terms of the relationship between SNAP and food insecurity, previous results are likely to be robust to the choice of sample” they continue.
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ABOUT AAEA: Established in 1910, the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) is the leading professional association for agricultural and applied economists, with 2,500 members in more than 60 countries. Members of the AAEA work in academic or government institutions as well as in industry and not-for-profit organizations, and engage in a variety of research, teaching, and outreach activities in the areas of agriculture, the environment, food, health, and international development. The AAEA publishes three journals, the Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (an open access journal), the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, as well as the online magazine Choices and the online open access publication series Applied Economics Teaching Resources. To learn more, visit www.aaea.org.
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