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Alcohol abuse and economic conditions: Evidence from repeated cross-sections of individual-level data

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Author Info
Thomas S. Dee (Department of Economics, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, USA)
Abstract

This study presents novel evidence on the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and patterns of alcohol consumption. Prior research has suggested that alcohol abuse varies procyclically, implying that income effects dominate any drinking patterns related to the opportunity cost of time or the psychological stress of recessions. However, those inferences have been based either on aggregate measures of consumption volume or possibly confounded cross-sectional identification strategies. This study examines these issues by evaluating detailed consumption data from the more than 700-000 respondents who participated in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys over the 1984-1995 period. The results provide robust evidence that the prevalence of binge drinking is strongly countercyclical. Furthermore, even among those who remain employed, binge drinking increased substantially during economic downturns. This combination of results suggests that recession-induced increases in the prevalence of binge drinking do not simply reflect an increased availability of leisure and may instead reflect the influence of economic stress. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/hec.588
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Article provided by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. in its journal Health Economics.

Volume (Year): 10 (2001)
Issue (Month): 3 ()
Pages: 257-270
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:10:y:2001:i:3:p:257-270

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Manning, Willard G. & Blumberg, Linda & Moulton, Lawrence H., 1995. "The demand for alcohol: The differential response to price," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 123-148, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Christopher J. Ruhm, 2000. "Are Recessions Good For Your Health?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(2), pages 617-650, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Sloan, Frank A & Reilly, Bridget A & Schenzler, Christoph, 1995. "Effects of Tort Liability and Insurance on Heavy Drinking and Drinking and Driving," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(1), pages 49-77, April.
  4. Ettner, Susan L., 1996. "New evidence on the relationship between income and health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 67-85, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Ruhm, Christopher J., 1995. "Economic conditions and alcohol problems," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 583-603, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Brent D. Mast & Bruce L. Benson & David W. Rasmussen, 1999. "Beer Taxation and Alcohol-Related Traffic Fatalities," Southern Economic Journal, Southern Economic Association, vol. 66(2), pages 214-249, October.
  7. John Mullahy & Jody L. Sindelar, 1997. "Women and work: tipplers and teetotalers," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 6(5), pages 533-537.
  8. Chapman, Kenneth S & Hariharan, Govind, 1994. "Controlling for Causality in the Link from Income to Mortality," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 85-93, January.
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  1. Davide Aristei & Federico Pierali & Luca Pieroni, 2007. "Cohort, Age and Time Effects in Alcohol Consumption by Italian Households: a Double-Hurdle Approach," Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia, Finanza e Statistica 30/2007, Università di Perugia, Dipartimento Economia, Finanza e Statistica. [Downloadable!]
  2. Petri Böckerman & Edvard Johansson & Ritva Prättälä & Antti Uutela, 2005. "Alcohol mortality, drinking behaviour, and business cycles: are slumps really dry seasons?," HEW 0506002, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Marianne Bitler & Jonah Gelbach & Hilary Hoynes, 2004. "Welfare Reform and Health," NBER Working Papers 10549, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. John Cawley & Kosali I. Simon, 2003. "The Impact of Macroeconomic Conditions on the Health Insurance Coverage of Americans," Forum for Health Economics & Policy, Berkeley Electronic Press, vol. 6. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Christopher J. Ruhm, 2004. "Macroeconomic Conditions, Health and Mortality," NBER Working Papers 11007, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Jeremy Arkes, 2007. "Does the economy affect teenage substance use?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(1), pages 19-36. [Downloadable!]
  7. Federico Perali & David Aristei & Luca Pieroni, 2005. "Cohort analysis of alcohol consumption: a double hurdle approach," CHILD Working Papers wp09_05, CHILD - Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic economics - ITALY. [Downloadable!]
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