This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Using a Canadian-American Natural Experiment to Study Relative Efficiencies of Social Welfare Payment Systems

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Tanguay, Georges
Hunt, Gary
Marceau, Nicolas

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

We study whether social welfare recipients may end up paying more for their grocery if social welfare payments are more concentrated over time. We first present a theoretical model showing that lower incomes in general and a lower lower bound of the income distribution lead to less mobility for poorer consumers. This causes local stores to have more market power and increase their prices when the incomes of poorer people go down and/or when the number of poorer people goes up. Secondly, we verify these theoretical findings by using a natural experiment to study links between food prices and the more restrictive timing of social welfare payments in Montreal, Canada compared to the timing in Bangor, Maine. We find some statistically significant evidence of : i) a negative effect on prices in the week of social welfare check issue ; ii) increasing prices over a month. We also find that some socio-economic factors such as a higher percentage of single-parent families in one area may increase prices charged by grocery stores in that area.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.cirpee.org/fileadmin/documents/Cahiers_2002/CIRPEE02-05.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by CIRPEE in its series Cahiers de recherche with number 0205.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: 2002
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:lvl:lacicr:0205

Contact details of provider:
Postal: CP 8888, succursale Centre-Ville, Montr�al, QC H3C 3P8
Phone: (514) 987-8161
Web page: http://www.cirpee.org/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Johanne Perron).

Related research
Keywords: Welfare Payments; Grocery Prices; Poverty;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General
I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Alcaly, Roger E & Klevorick, Alvin K, 1971. "Food Prices in Relation to Income Levels in New York City," Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(4), pages 380-97, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Glaeser, E. L., 1998. "Should transfer payments be indexed to local price levels?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 1-20, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Beck, Nathaniel & Katz, Jonathan N. & Alvarez, Michael R. & Garrett, Geoffrey & Lange, Peter, 1993. "Government Partisanship, Labor Organization and Macroeconomic Performance: A Corrigendum," Working Papers 848, California Institute of Technology, Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences. [Downloadable!]
  4. Blaylock, J R, 1989. "An Economic Model of Grocery Shopping Frequency," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 21(6), pages 843-52, June.
  5. Kunreuther, Howard, 1973. "Why the Poor May Pay More for Food: Theoretical and Empirical Evidence," Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 46(3), pages 368-83, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Wilde, Parke E & Ranney, Christine K, 2000. " The Monthly Food Stamp Cycle: Shopping Frequency and Food Intake Decisions in an Endogenous Switching Regression Framework," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, American Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 82(1), pages 200-213, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Georges Tanguay & Gary Hunt & Nicolas Marceau, 2005. "Food Prices and the Timing of Welfare Payments: A Canadian Study," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 31(2), pages 145-160, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? IDEAS also indexes book chapters.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-30.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.