Identifying the Effects of Food Stamps on the Nutritional Health of Children

Abstract: The literature assessing the efficacy of the food stamp program has long puzzled over the negative correlation between food stamp receipt and various health related outcomes such as food security. We examine the impact of food stamps on food insecurity and health in households with children, formally accounting for identification problems arising from the endogenous selection and misclassification of food stamp participation. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), we apply and extend the partial identification bounding methodology to account for these two identification problems in assessing the impact of the food stamp program. Imposing] relatively weak nonparametric assumptions, we find that the observed correlations provide a misleading picture about the impact of the food stamp program on the health status. The Food Stamp Program appears to have a modest negative effect on the incidence of nutritional distress of children residing in poor households.