Data and Code for: Program Recertification Costs: Evidence from SNAP

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Tatiana Homonoff, New York University; Jason Somerville, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  replication_files 01/13/2021 04:55:PM

Project Citation: 

Homonoff, Tatiana, and Somerville, Jason. Data and Code for: Program Recertification Costs: Evidence from SNAP. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2021. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-10-25. https://doi.org/10.3886/E124381V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary
Participants in means-tested programs must periodically document continued eligibility through a recertification process. We find evidence that the administrative burden associated with SNAP recertification leads to decreases in program participation. Cases assigned to later recertification interview dates, which leave less time to reschedule missed interviews, are over 20 percent less likely to recertify than cases assigned to interviews earlier in the month. Cases that fail due to later assignments lose an average of $600 in benefits in the following year. These losses are highly skewed: many cases quickly re-enroll, while one quarter remain off SNAP for over a year post-recertification.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms Adminstrative Burden; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; Recertification
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
      H53 National Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage California
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 10/2014 – 11/2016
Universe:  View help for Universe Recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in San Francisco

Methodology

Sampling:  View help for Sampling Administrative Data
Data Source:  View help for Data Source San Francisco Human Services Agency
Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation Case, recertification

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Published Versions

V1 [2021-10-25]

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