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Journal Articles
Abstract:
This article uses propensity scores to
evaluate the effect of food stamps on food
insecurity, a measure of inadequate food
supply. It relies on data from the Early
Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten
Cohort. By balancing treatment and
comparison groups on covariates, the
propensity score method adjusts for biased
caused by observed variables. This method
may be preferable to regression because it
does not rely on a linear functional form
to adjust for potential confounding
variables. Results show that food stamps
do not decrease the probability of being
food insecure, although they lesson the
severity of the problem according to some
models. But propensity scores rely on
several stringent assumptions, including
the need for a common support region (where
two compared groups share the same
characteristics) and a properly specified
model. Propensity scores should therefore
be employed with caution.