Alcohol Availability and Crime: Lessons from Liberalized Weekend Sales Restrictions
Abstract
In February 2000, the Swedish state monopoly alcohol retail company launched a large scale experiment in which all stores in selected counties were allowed to keep open on Saturdays. We assess the effects on crime of this expansion in access to alcohol. To isolate the impact of the experiment from other factors, we compare conviction rates in age cohorts above and below the national drinking age restriction in counties where the experiment had been implemented, and contrast these differences to those in counties that still prohibited weekend alcohol commerce. Our analysis relies on extensive individual conviction data that have been merged to population registers. After demonstrating that Saturday opening of alcohol shops significantly raised alcohol sales, we show that it also increased crime. The increase is confined to crimes committed on Saturdays and is driven by illegal activity among individuals with low ability and among persons with fathers that have completed at least some secondary education. Although the increases in crime and alcohol sales were slightly higher during the initial phase of the experiment, our evidence suggests that both effects persist over time. Our analysis reveals that the social costs linked to the experiment exceed the monetary benefits.Download Info
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Paper provided by Swedish Institute for Social Research in its series Working Paper Series with number 9/2011.Length: 44 pages
Date of creation: 02 Aug 2011
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:hhs:sofiwp:2011_009
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Related research
Keywords: Delinquency; Alcohol laws; Substance use;Find related papers by JEL classification:
- K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2011-08-22 (All new papers)
- NEP-EXP-2011-08-22 (Experimental Economics)
- NEP-LAB-2011-08-22 (Labour Economics)
- NEP-LAW-2011-08-22 (Law & Economics)
- NEP-URE-2011-08-22 (Urban & Real Estate Economics)
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