RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Efficiency versus Equity in the Provision of In-Kind Benefits JF Journal of Human Resources JO J Hum Resour FD University of Wisconsin Press SP 363 OP 392 DO 10.3368/jhr.58.4.0120-10677R1 VO 58 IS 2 A1 Katherine Meckel A1 Maya Rossin-Slater A1 Lindsey Uniat YR 2023 UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/58/2/363.abstract AB The government often contracts with private firms to deliver in-kind safety net benefits. These public–private partnerships generate agency problems that could increase costs, but cost containment reforms may discourage firm participation. We study a 2012 reform of California’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children that reduced the number of small vendors. We show that within-zip-code access to small vendors increases take-up among first-time and foreign-born mothers, suggesting that small vendors are distinctly effective at lowering take-up barriers among women with high program learning costs. Thus, cost containment reforms may have unintended consequences of inequitably reducing program access.