Recent studies on food stamp participant households' marginal propensity to spend out of food stamps versus income have had contradictory results: experimental studies have found household behavior aligns with standard economic theory where households' marginal propensity to spend on food out of food stamps is equivalent to cash income; observational studies find that households have a larger marginal propensity to spend out of food stamps than cash income. In this study, we re-examine this question by estimating how an unprecedentedly large increase in food stamp benefits due to the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act affects food-at-home expenditure. We find that the policy change caused households to increase food-at-home expenditure as well as increase households' share of total expenditure allocated toward food-at-home expenditure. We compare these results to a time period without a meaningful food stamp policy change and find our results are unique to the ARRA implementation time period. *
Food insecurity affects a significant percentage of US children.Food insecurity affects households through limited intake and by reducing dietary quality. The objective of this study was to examine the associations between consumption of ready-to-eat (RTE) cereal and nutrient intake, the Healthy Eating Index, and adiposity by food secure status in children. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2008 were analyzed to categorize children ages 4 to 12 as either food secure or not food secure and as either those who eat cereal or those who do not eat cereal. Results indicated that cereal consumption was associated with a better nutrient intake profile and Healthy Eating Index for food secure and nonsecure children. Enhanced nutrient intake was greater among the food insecure children who ate cereal relative to food insecure children who did not eat cereal. These results suggest that access to foods rich in nutrition but low in cost, such as RTE cereal, may positively impact the nutritional effects of food insecurity.
Objectives: In the present analysis, we seek to establish a relationship between time spent on food-related activities and food security status as well as between time spent on these activities and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called the Food Stamp Program) participation and benefit level. Design: After matching similar households using Coarsened Exact Matching, we estimate the relationship between food-related time, food insecurity and SNAP participation and benefit level using a comprehensive data set that combines two subsets of the Current Population Survey from years 2004-2010: the Food Security Supplement and the American Time Use Survey. Setting: City, suburban and rural areas of the USA. Subjects: Non-institutionalized US population over the age of 15 years. Total sample size is 10 247 households. Results: In single households, food insecurity and SNAP participation are associated with 20 % more time in meal preparation and 13 % less time eating. Similarly, in married households, SNAP participation and benefit level are associated with 32 % less time in meal preparation while food insecurity is associated with 17 % less time eating and 14 % less time in grocery shopping. Conclusions: A significant relationship exists between time spent on food-related activities and food insecurity and SNAP. This implies that federal and state government may need to consider the time constraints many low-income households face when reforming food assistance programmes.
This article analyzes the effects of copyrights on economic development and international trade. First, we apply an aggregate production function to examine the effects of “copyright‐related capital” (CRC) on development. This form of capital includes personal computers, servers, and bandwidth, which embody or transmit copyrighted materials. Second, we apply the gravity model of international trade to examine the effects of copyright policies on bilateral trade in core copyright industries. Third, we integrate the above frameworks to examine the two‐stage effects of copyrights on development, and then on trade. We analyze these relationships using cross‐sectional data for a large sample of countries. The findings show that a country's CRC contributes positively to its economic development. The findings also show that the relative harmonization of copyright policies between countries has a positive effect on bilateral trade in core copyright industries. Finally, the findings show evidence of a two‐stage process where a country's CRC contributes positively to its economic development (stage 1), which then contributes positively to its trade (stage 2).
We examine the effects of the 2013 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit cut on households' food expenditures, as well as other expenditure categories by analyzing data from the 2012-2014 Consumer Expenditure Survey (CEX). Making use of the short panel structure of the CEX, we employ difference-indifferences methods with household fixed effects. Results show that reduced SNAP benefits significantly decreased the food-at-home expenditure of SNAP households, but increased expenditure on used cars and public transportation. To further explore these findings, we use the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), where we find that SNAP households spent less time on food preparation, but more time on market work (both formal work and informal work) after the 2013 SNAP benefit cut. Our findings suggest that cutting program benefits by any level is immediately reflected in low-income household's food expenditure. Our results also indicate that an increase in transportation expenditures correspond with the observed increase in labor supply for participant households. These reveal important information about the behaviors and coping strategies of low-income households as they respond to a negative shock to their income.
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