THE DISTINCT IMPACT OF FOOD STAMPS ON FOOD SPENDING

The Southworth hypothesis predicts that inframarginal food stamp recipients should choose the same bundle of goods, whether they receive coupons or cash. Empirical research has contradicted this prediction. Here, we present a model that retains some attractive features of the Southworth hypothesis, while relaxing the key assumption that appears to be incorrect. In particular, we allow different forms of benefits to have distinct effects on desired, or unrestricted food spending. Two categories of previously commonly used empirical models are evaluated as special cases of our more general model. We estimate this model using data from two cash-out experiments.Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty,

ACCOUNTING FOR THE IMPORTANCE OF NONFARM INCOME ON FARM FAMILY INCOME INEQUALITY IN NEW YORK

As the proportion of farm family income due to nonfarm sources continues to grow nationally, it is important to understand how farm families in various regions or states are affected. This paper develops a better understanding of the contribution of income from nonfarm sources to the level and distribution of income among farm families in New York. In analyzing income distribution, the Gini ratio is decomposed to determine the effects of marginal changes in income by source to overall inequality. The results are compared with the simulated changes in income inequality due to changes in income by source as measured by an "adjusted" Gini ratio which accounts specifically for negative farm incomes. Differences in the policy implications from both procedures are compared. The relationships among sources of income and policy implications can be brought into sharper focus by examining both measures.Agricultural Finance,

EFFECTS OF FOOD AND HEALTH SPENDING PATTERNS ON THE HEALTH OF THE ELDERLY

Examines linkages between food and health spending patterns, income, and health status of the elderly. Links these relationships to food insecurity and expenditures on nutraceuticals. Methodology includes simultaneous estimation of expenditure systems and health production functions. Preliminary results indicate simultaneity between health production function and spending patterns throughout the life cycle.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy,

DO HEALTHIER DIETS COST MORE?

Do healthier diets cost more? We estimate a hedonic regression model of the U.S. diet. Given food expenditures and information on dietary intake we infer the marginal cost of improved quality. Meeting the Pyramid recommendations implies decreased expenditures from two of the seven food groups.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

THE EFFECT ON DIETARY QUALITY OF PARTICIPATION IN THE FOOD STAMP AND WIC PROGRAMS

Participants in the Food Stamp Program consume more meats, added sugars, and total fats than they would in the absence of the program, while their consumption of fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy products stays about the same. Participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) consume significantly less added sugars, which may reflect the substitution of WIC-supplied juices and cereals in place of higher sugar soft drinks and cereals. These findings come from a study of low-income Americans using the Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals.Nutrition assistance programs, food intake, dietary quality, Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals (CSFII), Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty,

CONSISTENT ESTIMATION OF LONGITUDINAL CENSORED DEMAND SYSTEMS

In this paper we derive a joint continuous/censored demand system suitable for the analysis of commodity demand relationships using panel data. Unobserved heterogeneity is controlled for using a correlated random effects specification and a Generalized Method of Moments framework used to estimate the model in two stages. While relatively small differences in elasticity estimates are found between a flexible specification and one that restricts the relationship between the random effect and budget shares to be time invariant, larger differences are observed between the most flexible random effects model and a pooled cross sectional estimator. The results suggest the limited ability of such estimators to control for preference heterogeneity and unit value endogeneity leads to parameter bias.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

ALTERNATIVE METHODS FOR DISTRIBUTING STATE AID TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN NEW YORK

This paper simulates alternative distributions of general purpose state aid to local governments under different combinations of criteria: tax capacity, effort, and revenue needs. Revenue needs are based on Tobit estimates of the costs of providing average levels of 16 categories of services. Segmenting the sample into high and low population jurisdictions provided a more realistic set of cost estimates. Available revenues or capacity are determined by multiplying each jurisdiction's tax bases by standard tax rates. A Need-Capacity gap, the difference between needed revenues and available revenues, is used as a needs-based distribution strategy for general purpose aid. Finally an effort gap, based on above average tax efforts was added to the Need-Capacity gap to define a Need-Capacity-Effort strategy.Public Economics,

RCT of a client-centred, caseworker-delivered smoking cessation intervention for a socially disadvantaged population

Background: Disadvantaged groups are an important target for smoking cessation intervention. Smoking rates are markedly higher among severely socially disadvantaged groups such as indigenous people, the homeless, people with a mental illness or drug and alcohol addiction, and the unemployed than in the general population. This proposal aims to evaluate the efficacy of a client-centred, caseworker delivered cessation support intervention at increasing validated self reported smoking cessation rates in a socially disadvantaged population.Methods/Design: A block randomised controlled trial will be conducted. The setting will be a non-government organisation, Community Care Centre located in New South Wales, Australia which provides emergency relief and counselling services to predominantly government income assistance recipients. Eligible clients identified as smokers during a baseline touch screen computer survey will be recruited and randomised by a trained research assistant located in the waiting area. Allocation to intervention or control groups will be determined by time periods with clients randomised in one-week blocks. Intervention group clients will receive an intensive client centred smoking cessation intervention offered by the caseworker over two face-to-face and two telephone contacts. There will be two primary outcome measures obtained at one, six, and 12 month follow-up: 1) 24-hour expired air CO validated self-reported smoking cessation and 2) 7-day self-reported smoking cessation. Continuous abstinence will also be measured at six and 12 months follow up.Discussion: This study will generate new knowledge in an area where the current information regarding the most effective smoking cessation approaches with disadvantaged groups is limited.<br /

School Lunch Program Participation in New York State

A.E. Res. 87-1

Food Stamps, Food Insufficiency and Health of the Elderly

WP 2010-15 September 2010Our overarching goal is to understand critical determinants of low-income elderly Americans’ well being as measured by health status. We focus on whether and how elderly health status is affected by FSP participation, food sufficiency and other determinants. To do so we must first ascertain (1) why so few needy elderly households choose to receive food stamps; (2) what determines their level of food insufficiency and finally; (3) how FSP participation and food insufficiency link to each other and then to health status. To meet our goal, we estimate and assess a unique econometric framework applied to an analysis database created specifically for this project. The analysis data are a subset of elderly households from the 2002 Health and Retirement Survey (HRS), consisting of those eligible for food stamps. State-specific eligibility criteria were obtained from the Urban Institute’s waiver database and from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities publications. The econometric model is structured in two steps. In the first, simultaneous multivariate Probit estimates of endogenous FSP participation and food insufficiency equations are estimated. From the results, we calculate predicted probabilities of participation and insufficiency for use in Step Two. This final step involves Ordered Probit estimation of self-reported health status. Because predicted variables from Step One are included as explanatory variables, we adjust the standard errors of the Ordered Probit estimates to allow for accurate hypothesis testing. We extend Murphy and Topel’s (1985) modification of standard errors for one predicted variable to handle two such variables. After correcting the standard errors, some coefficients lose their significance; most importantly, the positive coefficient for the probability of FSP participation. The significant coefficients that remain are: food insufficiency (+) income (-), widowed (+), Nonhispanic Black (-), exercise (-) and drink alcoholic beverages (-)