Speaker Katherine Harris-Lagoudakis - In-Kind Benefits and Behavioral Demand (Joint with Christian Cox)
- Event Type
- Seminar/Symposium
- Sponsor
- ACE (Dept. Agricultural and Consumer Economics)
- Location
- 428 Mumford Hall
- Virtual
- Join online
- Date
- Apr 18, 2025 12:00 - 1:00 pm
- Speaker
- Katherine Harris-Lagoudakis, Professor, Iowa State University
- Views
- 105
Abstract
This paper evaluates demand when making unhealthy products, like soda, ineligible for purchase with in-kind benefits. We utilize policy variation to identify how product specific in-kind eligibility affects the marginal propensity to consume. Difference-in-Difference estimates suggest a 14 to 21 percent decline in soda purchases if soda was made ineligible for purchase with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. We then estimate a model with mental accounting to rationalize observed patterns. We find that soda purchases would decline by 18 percent if soda were made ineligible. In addition, juice purchases would increase by 7 percent, decreasing sugars purchased from beverages.JEL: D12, I12, I18, I38, L66
Keywords: mental accounting, retail scanner data, SNAP