Job Market Paper
A Safety Net With a Loophole? The Unintended Consequences of SNAP Expansion Policy Reforms
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Even as food insecurity rates remained high, it was proposed to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to terminate one of its food assistance policies called Broad Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE). BBCE is a policy that expands the income threshold required for eligibility in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The 2018 Farm Bill proposed ending BBCE as it is considered a loophole that extends SNAP eligibility to households who do not need it. I contribute to the policy debate regarding the efficacy of BBCE and how SNAP affects work and family welfare. I examine the effect of BBCE on labor supply, food insecurity, and financial hardships among single-adults with children. Identification comes from a regression-discontinuity design that exploits quasi-experimental variation in income-eligibility cutoffs across states over time. The results show that BBCE increases participation by 5.2 percentage points, and does not create work disincentives. I present new evidence that indicates that BBCE has no effect on food insecurity. However, it is suggestive that the expansion is associated with a decline in financial hardships resulting from lower utility delinquencies.
Working Papers
“Oily Corruption? The Impact of Oil Price Shocks on Corruption”
Corruption, the misuse of public office for private gain, is estimated to cost \$2.6 trillion a year globally. Despite this high cost, determinants of corruption are not well understood given its illicit nature. This paper contributes to the limited micro-level literature on the effect of international oil price fluctuations as a determinant of firm corruption. A potential mechanism is that oil price fluctuations will create cost shocks to firms, affecting its sales, and higher sales might induce bureaucrats to extract more bribes from firm owners. Using a bartik instrument, I measure cost shocks that are induced by different responses of different industries to the price of oil, based on the industry's intensity of oil usage in production. I then test whetherthe resulting change in costs and sales affect bribe extraction.
The findings indicate a negative and significant association between oil price and firm sales, and contrary to most macro-level evidence, no association between oil price and corruption.
“Changes in Height-for-Age for Egyptian Children 1995-2014” – ERF Working Paper No. 1357.
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Stunting - a long-term outcome of malnutrition - is a serious health problem in Egypt. I examine children's nutritional status in Egypt over time using an anthropometric index, height-for-age z score. Over the last two decades, the height-for-age z score distribution and the stunting rates in Egypt have changed markedly. However, what factors led to these changes remain unknown. This paper is the first to consider the correlates of changes in child height for age z score and stunting rate in Egypt over time. Considering rates over time helps to provide policy directives. Using data from Egypt's Demographic and Health Survey for the years 1995, 2003 and 2014, I identify factors that are correlated with the change in children’s height. I use a Dinardo, Fortin and Lemieux (DFL) decomposition and a Recentered Influence Function (RIF) to decompose changes in height. The results indicate that the variation in the height-for-age z score distribution and stunting rates are driven mainly by changes in the association between mother's height and weight and children’s height. Policies targeted at increasing household income, mother's employment and education can reduce stunting rates, by reducing children's illness and malnutrition.
Policy Brief
“Childhood stunting in Egypt: trends, causes and solutions” – Economic Research Forum (ERF)
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Works in Progress
“SNAP Expansion Policies During Covid-19 – Are they snapping away consumption issues?” with Ayman Shakeel
"Real value of SNAP benefits & elderly's health and food security"
Awarded the Provost's Graduate Research Award (Grant for preliminary research) - UIC Graduate College