An economic analysis of food stamp participation in West Virginia

Poverty and food insecurity are challenging socio-economic problems that policy makers are trying to address for a long time. Among other things, providing financial and in-kind assistance are some of the initiatives taken to improve food security for low income households. Food Stamp Program is an important assistance program that serves to meet this goal. The objective of this study is to examine the implication of economic and policy variables on food stamp participation in West Virginia. To understand the current and lagged impact of economic variables on current food stamp participation, static and dynamic econometric models are used. These models are estimated using panel data of West Virginia counties. Results indicate that county poverty, unemployment, and the cost of living directly affect the level of county food stamp participation; while employment growth and PRWORA welfare policy tend to reduce county level food stamp program participation