How do government transfer payments affect retail prices and welfare? Evidence from SNAP
研究美国补充营养援助计划对零售价格的影响，发现福利每增加1%使食品杂货价格持久上涨0.08%，并量化了福利对消费者和生产者剩余的影响。
This paper studies the effect of the \n Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on retail \n prices in the United States. State-level program adjustments \n motivate the identification strategy. A 1 percent increase \n in benefits per population raises grocery prices by a \n persistent 0.08 percent. A calibrated partial-equilibrium \n model implies a marginal benefit dollar raises a recipient’s \n consumer surplus from groceries by $0.7, producer surplus by \n $0.5, and lowers each non-SNAP consumer’s surplus by $0.05, \n because of a large marginal propensity to consume food out \n of SNAP, low elasticities of demand, and moderate market \n power. To guarantee the real intended spending power on \n food, benefits should be increased by 7 percent.