Issuance and Incidence: SNAP Benefit Cycles and Grocery Prices

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Goldin, Jacob; Homonoff, Tatiana; Meckel, Katherine
• 署名单位: Stanford University; National Bureau of Economic Research; New York University; National Bureau of Economic Research; University of California System; University of California San Diego; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20190777
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 152-178
• 关键词: food; consumption; decisions; patterns; demand; matter; rise

摘要

Many safety net programs issue benefits as monthly lump-sum payments. We investigate how the timing of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit issuance affects food purchases and the incidence of the transfer. Using scanner data from a large sample of grocery stores and state and time variation in SNAP issuance schedules, we document large, SNAP-induced intramonth cycles in food expenditures. However, we find that retailers do not adjust prices based on these predictable patterns of demand. Our results therefore suggest that reforming issuance schedules may reduce costs from SNAP-induced demand surges but are unlikely to affect the incidence of SNAP benefits.