Automatic Nutritional Stabilizers and the Role of Charitable Food Assistance during Times of Crisis
Image credit: Luis NavarroAbstract
We examine the role of charitable food assistance during periods of economic distress by looking at donations to a large Midwestern food bank. First, we explore the historical determinants of in-kind food and financial donations, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that both in-kind and financial donations dramatically increased at the onset of the pandemic but these increases were not persistent. As a result, we argue that this is evidence of the charitable food system serving as an “automatic nutritional stabilizer” in accepting charitable donations on behalf of households in need during times of crisis.
Publication
R&R JAAEA
We examine the role of charitable food assistance during periods of economic distress by looking at donations to a large Midwestern food bank. First, we explore the historical determinants of in-kind food and financial donations, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that both in-kind and financial donations dramatically increased at the onset of the pandemic but these increases were not persistent. As a result, we argue that this is evidence of the charitable food system serving as an “automatic nutritional stabilizer” in accepting charitable donations on behalf of households in need during times of crisis.
Authors
PhD Candidate
I am a Ph.D. candidate in Public Affairs at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, Bloomington. My research interests include public finance, state and local tax policy, fiscal federalism, financial management, municipal debt, and generally the intersection of public economics and public administration. I am currently in the Academic Job Market (Fall 2024/Spring 2025).