If at first you don’t succeed: applying for and staying on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
David C. Ribar, Professor (Creator)
Christopher A. Swann, Associate Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: We examine households’ applications to and participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program using administrative records from South Carolina. We model application resolutions with multinomial logit (MNL) specifications where the possible outcomes are acceptance, denial due to income ineligibility, denial due to a failure to provide sufficient information and denial due to other reasons. For cases with successful applications, we model the durations of participation spells using competing risk hazard specifications that distinguish among exits that result from missed recertifications, financial ineligibility, incomplete or missing information and other reasons. The application and hazard outcomes depend on past programme behaviour and observed characteristics. The results indicate that a household’s application and participation history affect its subsequent application success and programme tenure.

Additional Information

Publication
Applied Economics, 46(27), 3339-3350
Language: English
Date: 2014
Keywords
food stamps, SNAP, programme take-up, competing risks

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