Administrative Burden and Procedural Denials: Experimental Evidence from SNAP / Eric Giannella, Tatiana Homonoff, Gwen Rino, Jason Somerville.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Giannella, Eric.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Homonoff, Tatiana.

Rino, Gwen.

Somerville, Jason.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w31239.

NBER working paper series no. w31239

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2023.

Summary:

Many government program applications result in procedural denials due to administrative burdens associated with applying. We identify the intake interview as a key barrier to take-up of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and study the effect of an alternative application process designed to reduce burdens. Using a field experiment involving 65,000 Los Angeles applicants, we find that access to flexible interviews initiated by the applicant increases approvals by six percentage points, doubles early approvals, and increases long-term participation by over two percentage points. Our findings highlight the importance of incorporating flexibility when designing program integrity policies to minimize procedural denials.

Notes:

Print version record

May 2023.