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Lowering blood alcohol content levels to save lives: The european experience

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Author Info
Daniel Albalate () (Grup de Recerca en Polítiques Públiques i Regulació Económiques (GPRE), Institut de Recerca d'Economia Aplicada (IREA), Departament de Política Econòmica i EEM, Universitat de Barcelona)

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Abstract

Road safety has become an increasing concern in developed countries due to the significant amount of mortal victims and the economic losses derived. Only in 2005 these losses rose to 200.000 million euros, a significant amount - approximately the 2% of its GDP- that easily justifies any public intervention. One tool used by governments to face this challenge is the enactment of stricter policies and regulations. Since drunk driving is one of the most important concerns of public authorities on this field, several European countries decided to lower their illegal Blood Alcohol Content levels to 0.5 mg/ml during the last decade. This study evaluates for the first time the effectiveness of this transition using European panel-based data (CARE) for the period 1991-2003 using the Differences-in-Differences method in a fixed effects estimation that allows for any pattern of correlation (Cluster-Robust). My results show the existence of positive impacts on certain groups of road users and for the whole population when the policy is accompanied by some enforcement interventions. Moreover, a time lag of more than two years is found in that effectiveness. Finally, I also assert the importance of controlling for serial correlation in the evaluation of this kind of policies.

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File URL: http://www.pcb.ub.es/xreap/aplicacio/fitxers/CREAP2006-07.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP) in its series Working Papers with number CREAP20006-07.

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Length: 36 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2006
Date of revision: Dec 2006
Handle: RePEc:xrp:wpaper:creap2006-07

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Postal: Espai de Recerca en Economia, Facultat de Ci�ncies Econ�miques i Empresarials, Universitat de Barcelona, c/ Tinent Coronel Valenzuela, 1-11, 08034 Barcelona
Phone: +34+934039832
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Web page: http://www.pcb.ub.es/xreap
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Related research
Keywords: Road Safety Policy Evaluation Differences-in-Differences Drunk Driving Illegal Blood Alcohol Content Levels (BAC).

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
H73 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Interjurisdictional Differentials and Their Effects
K32 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Environmental, Health, and Safety Law
R41 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics - - Transportation Systems - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion

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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. Saffer, Henry & Chaloupka, Frank, 1989. "Breath Testing and Highway Fatality Rates," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 21(7), pages 901-12, July.
  2. Reagan Baughman & Michael Conlin & Stacy Dickert-Conlin & John Pepper, 2000. "Slippery When Wet: The Effects of Local Alcohol Access Laws on Highway Safety," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 31, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Besley, Timothy & Case, Anne, 2000. "Unnatural Experiments? Estimating the Incidence of Endogenous Policies," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(467), pages F672-94, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Steven D. Levitt & Jack Porter, 1999. "Estimating the Effect of Alcohol on Driver Risk Using Only Fatal Accident Statistics," NBER Working Papers 6944, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Ruhm, Christopher J., 1996. "Alcohol policies and highway vehicle fatalities," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 435-454, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Saffer, Henry & Grossman, Michael, 1987. "Drinking Age Laws and Highway Mortality Rates: Cause and Effect," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 403-17, July.
  7. Dee, Thomas S. & Sela, Rebecca J., 2003. "The fatality effects of highway speed limits by gender and age," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 79(3), pages 401-408, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Patrick McCarthy, 2003. "Alcohol-related crashes and alcohol availability in grass-roots communities," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 35(11), pages 1331-1338, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Anna Matas Prats & José Luís Raymond Bara & José Luís Raymond Bara, 2008. "Job accessibility and employment probability," Working Papers XREAP2008-5, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised May 2008. [Downloadable!]
  2. Christian Durán Weitkamp & Mónica Martín Bofarull & Federico Pablo Martí, 2008. "Economic effects of road accessibility in the Pyrenees: user perspective," Working Papers XREAP2008-1, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised Jan 2008. [Downloadable!]
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