Volume 31, Number 2 (Spring) 1996
Hagstrom, Paul A. 1996. "The Food Stamp Participation and Labor Supply of Married Couples: An Empirical Analysis of Joint Decisions." Journal of Human Resources 31(2):383-403.
This paper examines the effect of the Food Stamp Program on intrafamily labor supply and program participation decisions. Married couples simultaneously choose the labor supply of the husband and wife and whether to participate in the Food Stamp Program. Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, the author estimates a nested multinomial logit model. Simulations indicate smaller labor supply effects to changes in the food stamp benefit than the previous research which focused on single parents. Married-couple program participation is found to be relatively responsive to changes in food stamp benefits.
The author is an assistant professor of economics at Hamilton College, New York. T his research was partially funded by the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and by the Institute for Research on Poverty. The author wishes to thank James Walker, Maurice MacDonald, Martin David, Robert Haveman, Robert Moffitt, Kenneth Couch, Jeffrey Pliskin, Robert Turner, and three anonymous referees for their helpful comments. The author accepts responsibility for any remaining errors. The data used in this article can be obtained from the author between Nov ember 1996 and October 1999 cat the following address: Hamilton College, 198 College Hill Road, Clinton, NY 13323.
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