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The impact of problem drinking on employment

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Author Info
Weiwei Feng (Corning Incorporated, Corning, NY, USA)
Wei Zhou (Corning Incorporated, Corning, NY, USA)
J.S. Butler (Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University, USA)
Brenda M. Booth (Department of Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), USA)
Michael T. French (Health Services Research Center, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health and Department of Economics, University of Miami, USA)

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Abstract

Social cost studies report that alcohol use and misuse impose a great economic burden on society, and over half of the total economic costs are estimated to be due to the loss of work productivity. Controversy remains, however, as to the magnitude and direction of the effects of alcohol consumption on productivity. Furthermore, most of the studies have looked at the relationship between problem drinking and wages. This paper investigates the impact of problem drinking on employment by analysing a random sample of men and women of prime working age from six Southern states in the US (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee). The data set contains 4898 females and 3224 males, with information on both employment and problem drinking. To eliminate the bias that may result from single-equation estimation, we used a bivariate probit model to control for possible correlation in the unobservable factors that affect both problem drinking and employment. We find no significant negative association between problem drinking and employment for both men and women, controlling for other covariates. The findings are consistent with other research and highlight several methodological issues. Furthermore, the study suggests that estimates of the costs of problem drinking may be overstated owing to misleading labour supply relationships. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/hec.611
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Publisher Info
Article provided by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. in its journal Health Economics.

Volume (Year): 10 (2001)
Issue (Month): 6 ()
Pages: 509-521
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Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:10:y:2001:i:6:p:509-521

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

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References listed on IDEAS
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. Hugh R. Waters, 1999. "Measuring the impact of health insurance with a correction for selection bias-a case study of Ecuador," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 8(5), pages 473-483.
  2. Berger, Mark C & Leigh, J Paul, 1988. "The Effect of Alcohol Use on Wages," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 20(10), pages 1343-51, October.
  3. Gail Mitchell Hoyt & Frank J. Chaloupka, 1994. "Effect Of Survey Conditions On Self-Reported Substance Use," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 12(3), pages 109-121, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Mullahy, John & Sindelar, Jody L, 1991. "Gender Differences in Labor Market Effects of Alcoholism," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(2), pages 161-65, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Zarkin, Gary A. & French, Michael T. & Mroz, Thomas & Bray, Jeremy W., 1998. "Alcohol use and wages: New results from the national household survey on drug abuse," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 53-68, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Charles A. Register & Donald R. Williams, 1992. "Labor market effects of marijuana and cocaine use among young men," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 45(3), pages 435-451, April.
  7. Ribar, David C, 1994. "Teenage Fertility and High School Completion," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(3), pages 413-24, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, 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. Anthony Harris, 2008. "Chronic Disease and Labour Force Participation in Australia: an endogenous multivariate probit analysis of clinical prevalence data," Centre for Health Economics Research Papers 25/08, Monash University, Centre for Health Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Ziggy MacDonald & Michael A. Shields, 2004. "Does problem drinking affect employment? Evidence from England," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(2), pages 139-155. [Downloadable!]
  3. Nicolas Ziebarth & Markus Grabka, 2009. "In Vino Pecunia? The Association Between Beverage-Specific Drinking Behavior and Wages," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 219-244, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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