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Article
Food Stamps and Food Insecurity: What Can Be Learned in the Presence of Non-Classical Measurement Error?
Economics Working Papers (2002–2016)
  • Craig Gundersen, Iowa State University
  • Brent Kreider, Iowa State University
Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
3-1-2007
Working Paper Number
WP #06034, March 2007
Abstract

Policymakers have been puzzled to observe that food stamp households appear more likely to be food insecure than observationally similar eligible nonparticipating households. We reexamine this issue allowing for nonclassical reporting errors in food stamp participation and food insecurity. Extending the literature on partially identified parameters, we introduce a nonparametric framework that makes transparent what can be known about conditional probabilities when a binary outcome and conditioning variable are both subject to nonclassical measurement error. We find that the food insecurity paradox hinges on strong assumptions about the reliability of the data that are not supported by the previous food stamp participation literature.

File Format
application/pdf
Length
39 pages
Citation Information
Craig Gundersen and Brent Kreider. "Food Stamps and Food Insecurity: What Can Be Learned in the Presence of Non-Classical Measurement Error?" (2007)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/brent-kreider/10/