Understanding the Determinants of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation

Excerpts from the Executive Summary: This project was initially conceived, in Burstein et al. (2005), as a benchmark or springboard for further research on participation. The expectation was that it would produce an econometric model that is qualitatively similar to those that have been previously published. Instead, it became clear that available findings from the ethnographic literature can be used to generate hypotheses about participation and more robust econometric models. The current study has three components: 1. Existing literature review: A review of available research on the determinants of SNAP participation among different types of households. 2. Participation model development: An analysis of data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation to identify factors that contribute to a household’s decision to participate or not to participate in SNAP. 3. Model assessment and recommendations: An assessment of the “best” participation model, synthesizing findings from the literature review and model assessment, and recommendations for future research.

执行摘要节选：本项目最早由Burstein等人（2005年）提出，最初被定位为参与行为研究领域的基准参考或后续研究的跳板。当时的预期是，本项目将产出一个与此前已发表模型在定性层面相似的计量经济学模型。但最终研究表明，民族志文献中的现有研究结果可用于生成关于参与行为的研究假说，以及构建更为稳健的计量经济学模型。本研究包含三个核心组成部分：1. 现有文献综述：针对不同类型家庭的补充营养援助计划（Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program，SNAP）参与率影响因素的现有研究进行系统梳理与综述。2. 参与模型构建：通过对收入与项目参与调查（Survey of Income and Program Participation）的数据集开展分析，识别影响家庭决策是否参与SNAP的各类关键因素。3. 模型评估与研究建议：对"最优"参与模型进行评估，整合文献综述与模型评估的研究成果，并针对未来研究方向提出相关建议。