2015
DOI: 10.1111/coep.12123
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Wic Participation and Maternal Behavior: Breastfeeding and Work Leave

Abstract: We examine the effects of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program on breastfeeding outcomes and maternal employment decisions. This research expands the existing literature using an alternative identification strategy and a broader set of outcomes. Using data from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II, we control for selection bias into WIC using the variation in food prices as an instrumental variable. The results of this study are robust to a number of specification and falsification tests. We find WI… Show more

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Cited by 14 publications
(6 citation statements)
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“…) to conclusions that differences are driven by differences in maternal characteristics (Jiang, Foster, and Gibson‐Davis ). Recent analysis using variation in food prices as an instrument for WIC participation suggests little effect on breastfeeding initiation rates, but large reductions in the amount of time spent breastfeeding exclusively (e.g., not supplementing with formula) (Bullinger and Gurley‐Calvez ).…”
Section: Previous Literaturementioning
confidence: 99%
See 1 more Smart Citation
“…) to conclusions that differences are driven by differences in maternal characteristics (Jiang, Foster, and Gibson‐Davis ). Recent analysis using variation in food prices as an instrument for WIC participation suggests little effect on breastfeeding initiation rates, but large reductions in the amount of time spent breastfeeding exclusively (e.g., not supplementing with formula) (Bullinger and Gurley‐Calvez ).…”
Section: Previous Literaturementioning
confidence: 99%
“…Studies that addressed selection bias in program participation have generated mixed results ranging from positive effects ( Joyce, Racine, and Yunzal-Butler 2008) to suggestive but imprecise negative effects from instrumental variables estimation (Chatterji et al 2002) to conclusions that differences are driven by differences in maternal characteristics ( Jiang, Foster, and Gibson-Davis 2010). Recent analysis using variation in food prices as an instrument for WIC participation suggests little effect on breastfeeding initiation rates, but large reductions in the amount of time spent breastfeeding exclusively (e.g., not supplementing with formula) (Bullinger and Gurley-Calvez 2015).…”
Section: Previous Literaturementioning
confidence: 99%
“…Finally, although propensity score matching overcomes many of the limitations of cross-sectional data, causal inference can be further strengthened with the use of analytic techniques that capitalize on exogenous variation and multiple observations. For example, WIC participation has been instrumented with local food prices [43], WIC program characteristics [18], and WIC clinic availability during pregnancy [44] to generate a measure of WIC participation that is not correlated with the error term. Other studies have applied fixed effects models that treat the individual as their own control using longitudinal data [9,18,45].…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Some studies have also utilized instrumental variables models to control for selection into the program. Instruments used in some recent studies include state-level WIC characteristics, income documentation, food prices, and WIC electronic benefit transfer programs (Bitler & Currie, 2005a;Bullinger & Gurley-Calvez, 2015;Figlio et al, 2009;Hanks et al, 2019). 5 Data for North Carolina was linked to birth certificates, which provides information on birth outcomes and prenatal smoking for the prenatal WIC enrollees.…”
Section: Endnotesmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Secondly, risky behaviors should be affected by these WIC grants only through their effects on WIC participation. The other two instruments are motivated by Bullinger and Gurley-Calvez (2015) and Hanks et al (2019), who use food prices and rollout of electronic WIC benefits transfers as exogenous shocks for WIC enrollment, respectively. We collected food prices from the American Chamber of Commerce's ACCRA Cost of Living Index (COLI) database and state level information on the rollout of electronic WIC benefit transfers from the US Department of Agriculture.…”
Section: Endnotesmentioning
confidence: 99%