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

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  • 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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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. in its journal Health Economics.

Volume (Year): 10 (2001)
Issue (Month): 3 ()
Pages: 257-270

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Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:10:y:2001:i:3:p:257-270

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Web page: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/5749

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References

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  1. Christopher J. Ruhm, 2000. "Are Recessions Good For Your Health?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(2), pages 617-650, May.
  2. 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 and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(1), pages 49-77, April.
  3. Ruhm, Christopher J., 1995. "Economic conditions and alcohol problems," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 583-603, December.
  4. Michael Grossman & Frank J. Chaloupka & Henry Saffer & Adit Laixuthai, 1994. "Effects of Alcohol Price Policy on Youth," NBER Working Papers 4385, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  5. John Mullahy & Jody L. Sindelar, 1997. "Women and work: tipplers and teetotalers," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 6(5), pages 533-537.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Ettner, Susan L., 1997. "Measuring the human cost of a weak economy: Does unemployment lead to alcohol abuse?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 251-260, January.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
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Cited by:
  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.
  2. Marianne Bitler & Jonah Gelbach & Hilary Hoynes, 2004. "Welfare Reform and Health," NBER Working Papers 10549, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  3. Christopher J. Ruhm & William E. Black, 2001. "Does Drinking Really Decrease in Bad Times?," NBER Working Papers 8511, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  4. Christopher J. Ruhm, 2004. "Macroeconomic Conditions, Health and Mortality," NBER Working Papers 11007, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  5. Jeremy Arkes, 2007. "Does the economy affect teenage substance use?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(1), pages 19-36.
  6. Svensson, Mikael & Hagquist, Curt, 2009. "Adolescent Alcohol-use and Economic Conditions: A Multilevel Analysis of Data from a Period with Big Economic Changes," Working Papers 2009:6, Örebro University, School of Business.
  7. Petri Böckerman & Edvard Johansson & Ritva Prättälä & Antti Uutela, 2005. "Alcohol mortality, drinking behaviour, and business cycles: are slumps really dry seasons?," HEW 0506002, EconWPA.

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