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The Effects of Alcohol Use on Economic Decision Making

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  • Klajdi Bregu
  • Cary Deck
  • Lindsay Ham
  • Salar Jahedi

Abstract

In a controlled laboratory experiment, we study the causal effect of alcohol on economic decision making. A treatment group was given a dose of alcohol designed to target a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 while the BAC of those in the control group remained 0.00. We investigate the behavior of control and treatment groups in the following types of tasks: math, uncertainty, overconfidence, strategic games, food choice, anchoring, and altruism. Our results indicate that alcohol consumption has little systematic effect on economic behavior, at least for the BAC level considered. Further, there is little evidence that alcohol differentially impacts the choices of male and female subjects.

Suggested Citation

  • Klajdi Bregu & Cary Deck & Lindsay Ham & Salar Jahedi, 2017. "The Effects of Alcohol Use on Economic Decision Making," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(4), pages 886-902, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:soecon:v:83:y:2017:i:4:p:886-902
    DOI: 10.1002/soej.12179
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    3. Fielding, David & Knowles, Stephen & Robertson, Kirsten, 2018. "Alcohol, generosity and empathy," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 28-39.
    4. Deck, Cary & Jahedi, Salar & Sheremeta, Roman, 2021. "On the consistency of cognitive load," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
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    6. Giuseppe Attanasi & James C. Cox & Vjollca Sadiraj, 2022. "Festival Games: Inebriated and Sober Altruists," GREDEG Working Papers 2022-39, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    7. Kuhn, Michael A. & Kuhn, Peter & Villeval, Marie Claire, 2017. "Decision-environment effects on intertemporal financial choices: How relevant are resource-depletion models?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 72-89.
    8. Brañas-Garza, Pablo & Cabrales, Antonio & Mateu, Guillermo & Sanchez, Angel & Sutan, Angela, 2018. "Does pre-play social interaction improve negotiation outcomes?," MPRA Paper 90842, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Daniel Houser & Jianxin Wang, 2021. "Business Drinking: Evidence from A Lab-in-the-Field Experiment," Working Papers 1074, George Mason University, Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science.
    10. Bregu, Klajdi, 2020. "Overconfidence and (Over)Trading: The Effect of Feedback on Trading Behavior," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    11. Au, Pak Hung & Lim, Wooyoung & Zhang, Jipeng, 2022. "In vino veritas? Communication under the influence—An experimental study," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 325-340.
    12. Judd B. Kessler & Andrew McClellan & James Nesbit & Andrew Schotter, 2022. "Short-term fluctuations in incidental happiness and economic decision-making: experimental evidence from a sports bar," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(1), pages 141-169, February.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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