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Efficiency versus Equity in the Provision of In-Kind Benefits: Evidence from Cost Containment in the California WIC Program

Author

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  • Katherine Meckel
  • Maya Rossin-Slater
  • Lindsey Uniat

Abstract

The government often contracts with private firms to deliver in-kind safety net benefits. These public–private partnerships generate agency problems that could increase costs, but cost containment reforms may discourage firm participation. We study a 2012 reform of California’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children that reduced the number of small vendors. We show that within-zip-code access to small vendors increases take-up among first-time and foreign-born mothers, suggesting that small vendors are distinctly effective at lowering take-up barriers among women with high program learning costs. Thus, cost containment reforms may have unintended consequences of inequitably reducing program access.

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine Meckel & Maya Rossin-Slater & Lindsey Uniat, 2023. "Efficiency versus Equity in the Provision of In-Kind Benefits: Evidence from Cost Containment in the California WIC Program," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 58(2), pages 363-392.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:58:y:2023:i:2:p:363-392
    Note: DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.58.4.0120-10677R1
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    File URL: http://jhr.uwpress.org/cgi/reprint/58/2/363
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    Cited by:

    1. Owen Fleming & Lilly Springer, 2025. "The Spillover Effects of Nurse Practitioner Scope of Practice Expansions on Safety Net Program Participation: Evidence from WIC," WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS 202506, University of Kansas, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2025.
    2. Owen Fleming & Lilly Springer, 2025. "The Spillover Effects of Nurse Practitioner Scope of Practice Expansions on Safety Net Program Participation: Evidence from WIC," WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS 202501, University of Kansas, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2025.
    3. Lilly Springer, 2025. "Downstream Effects of Post-Dobbs Abortion Bans: Birth Rates and WIC," WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS 202513, University of Kansas, Department of Economics, revised May 2025.
    4. repec:ags:aaea22:335863 is not listed on IDEAS

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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