What Can We Learn About the Effects of Food Stamps on Obesity in the Presence of Misreporting?

Lorenzo Almada, Ian McCarthy and Rusty Tchernis

No 21596, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: There is an increasing perception among policy makers that food stamp benefits contribute positively to adult obesity rates. We show that these results are heavily dependent on one's assumptions regarding the accuracy of reported food stamp participation. When allowing for misreporting, we find no evidence that SNAP participation significantly increases the probability of being obese or overweight among adults. Our results also highlight the inherent bias and inconsistency of common point estimates when ignoring misreporting, with treatment effects from instrumental variable methods exceeding the non-parametric upper bounds by over 200% in some cases.

JEL-codes: C01 H4 I1 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-hea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published as Lorenzo Almada & Ian McCarthy & Rusty Tchernis, 2016. "What Can We Learn about the Effects of Food Stamps on Obesity in the Presence of Misreporting?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 98(4), pages 997-1017.

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Journal Article: What Can We Learn about the Effects of Food Stamps on Obesity in the Presence of Misreporting? (2016)
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