| Project: Food Demands and Nutrient Availability of Low-Income Households |
| Award Year: 2000 |
| Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $10,000.00 |
| Institution: University of Tennessee |
| Principal Investigator: Steven Yen |
| Status: Completed |
| Detailed Objective: This project estimates the effect of Food Stamp Program (FSP) benefits on households'
food expenditures and nutrient availability using 1997-98 data from the National
Food Stamp Program Survey (NFSPS). Studies that documented positive effects
of food stamp benefits on food expenditure and nutrient availability have become
dated.
The FSP provides needy households with purchasing power to buy food. With increased
food expenditures, households that receive food stamps may improve their diets
and diet-related health conditions. Numerous studies have documented a positive
effect of food stamp benefits on food expenditure and nutrient availability.
However, data analyzed in previous studies were collected prior to the abolishment
of purchase requirement in FSP in 1979. The NFSPS, conducted for USDA in 1997-98,
provides data to update the estimated effect of food stamp benefits on food
expenditures and the availability of nutrients to needy households. The NFSPS
data will be analyzed to estimate food demand elasticities for food stamp households.
The research will address econometric problems associated with the large number
of households reporting zero consumption. The effect of food stamp benefits
on household nutrient availability will be estimated by linking the marginal
propensity to consume food, food demand elasticities, and the nutrient profile
of the foods consumed by food stamp households. |
| Topic: Dietary Intake and Quality, Food Prices and Demand, SNAP/Food Stamp Program |
| Dataset: National Food Stamp Program Survey (NFSPS) |
Output:
Yen, S., and B. Lin. "Beverage Consumption Among U.S. Children and Adolescents: Full-Information and Quasi Maximum-Likelihood Estimation of a Censored System," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 29, Issue 1, March 2002.
Yen, S., B. Lin, and D. Smallwood. "Quasi- and Simulated-Likelihood Approaches to Censored Demand Systems: Food Consumption by Food Stamp Recipients in the United States," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 85, No. 2, May 2003.
Yen, S., B. Lin, D. Smallwood, and M. Andrews. "Demand for Nonalcoholic Beverages: The Case of Low-Income Households," Agribusiness, Vol. 20, No. 3, Summer 2004. |