Entry dynamics and demand-side subsidies: Evaluating the impact of SNAP ABAWD waivers on retailer entry

Alejandro Herrera Caicedo and Inder Majumdar

No 404565, 2026 Annual Meeting, July 26 - 28, 2026, Kansas City, Missouri from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Abstract: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to improve food access among low-income households and support nutritional outcomes. Prior work evaluating the impact of SNAP expansion has predominantly focused on demand-side responses, while impacts on the retail landscape that supplies consumers have remained largely unstudied. To that end, we consider the waivers of the Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) time limit as an intensive-margin increase in SNAP benefit duration. Exploiting variation in the timing of waiver conferral, we find that ABAWD waiver conferral is associated with a 6.3 and 6.6 percentage point increase in the probability of dollar-store and convenience store entry, a pattern not observed for other retail formats. While recent work on the expansion of retail formats as dollar-stores raises concerns about the crowding out of supermarkets, our estimates are most pronounced in non-metro underserved areas, where retail access is already limited. The results suggest that targeted expansions in SNAP access can reshape local retail markets.

Keywords: Food; Consumption/Nutrition/Food; Safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aaea26:404565

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.404565

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