How Do Government Transfer Payments Affect Retail Prices and Welfare?

• Tác giả: Justin H Leung
• Ngôn ngữ: eng
• Ký hiệu phân loại: 021.83 Financial support
• Thông tin xuất bản: World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022
• Bộ sưu tập: Tài liệu truy cập mở
• ID: 300061
• Chủ đề: 1. CONSUMPTION; 2. FOOD PRICE FLUCTUATION; 3. FOOD STAMPS; 4. INCIDENCE; 5. SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP)

Tóm tắt

This paper studies the effect of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on retail prices in the United States. State-level program adjustments motivate the identification strategy. A 1 percent increase in benefits per population raises grocery prices by a persistent 0.08 percent. A calibrated partial-equilibrium model implies a marginal benefit dollar raises a recipient's consumer surplus from groceries by .7, producer surplus by .5, and lowers each non-SNAP consumer's surplus by .05, because of a large marginal propensity to consume food out of SNAP, low elasticities of demand, and moderate market power. To guarantee the real intended spending power on food, benefits should be increased by 7 percent.