Work Incentives and the Food Stamp Program

Hilary Hoynes and Diane Schanzenbach

No 16198, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Labor supply theory makes strong predictions about how the introduction of a social welfare program impacts work effort. Although there is a large literature on the work incentive effects of AFDC and the EITC, relatively little is known about the work incentive effects of the Food Stamp Program and none of the existing literature is based on quasi-experimental methods. We use the cross-county introduction of the program in the 1960s and 1970s to estimate the impact of the program on the extensive and intensive margins of labor supply, earnings, and family cash income. Consistent with theory, we find modest reductions in employment and hours worked when food stamps are introduced. The results are larger for single-parent families.

JEL-codes: H31 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
Note: CH LS PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published as Hoynes, Hilary Williamson & Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore, 2012. "Work incentives and the Food Stamp Program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 151-162.

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