IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ilrrev/v62y2008i1p92-103.html

Alcohol Abuse, Alcoholism, and Labor Market Outcomes: Looking for the Missing Link

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco Renna

Abstract

There is puzzling evidence that alcohol abuse and alcoholism reduce labor earnings but have no effect on either hours worked or the hourly wage. This study revisits the link between problem drinking and earnings using data from the 1989 and 1994 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Questions about problem drinking were keyed to a table of symptoms for alcohol abuse and alcoholism in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . The author finds no effects associated with alcohol abuse. In OLS regressions, alcoholism appears to have had negative effects on both labor market outcomes. In the lag variable and in the first difference regressions, alcoholism's negative effect on wages disappears, but its negative effect on hours of work remains, suggesting that the negative effect of alcoholism on earnings operates through reduced work hours. These results of the two-stage least squares are inconclusive.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Renna, 2008. "Alcohol Abuse, Alcoholism, and Labor Market Outcomes: Looking for the Missing Link," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 62(1), pages 92-103, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:62:y:2008:i:1:p:92-103
    DOI: 10.1177/001979390806200105
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001979390806200105
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/001979390806200105?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeremy W. Bray, 2005. "Alcohol Use, Human Capital, and Wages," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(2), pages 279-312, April.
    2. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    3. Fuchs, Victor R. (ed.), 1982. "Economic Aspects of Health," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226267852.
    4. Vivian Hamilton & Barton H. Hamilton, 1997. "Alcohol and Earnings: Does Drinking Yield a Wage Premium," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 30(1), pages 135-151, February.
    5. Alison Snow Jones & David W. Richmond, 2006. "Causal effects of alcoholism on earnings: estimates from the NLSY," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(8), pages 849-871, August.
    6. Rena M. Conti & Ernst R. Berndt & Richard G. Frank, 2006. "Early Retirement and Public Disability Insurance Applications: Exploring the Impact of Depression," NBER Working Papers 12237, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Dave, Dhaval & Kaestner, Robert, 2002. "Alcohol taxes and labor market outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 357-371, May.
    8. 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.
    9. Bethany Peters, 2004. "Is there a wage bonus from drinking? Unobserved heterogeneity examined," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(20), pages 2299-2315.
    10. French, Michael T. & Zarkin, Gary A., 1995. "Is moderate alcohol use related to wages? Evidence from four worksites," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 319-344, August.
    11. Susan L. Ettner & Richard G. Frank & Ronald C. Kessler, 1997. "The Impact of Psychiatric Disorders on Labor Market Outcomes," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 51(1), pages 64-81, October.
    12. Heckman, James J, 1978. "Dummy Endogenous Variables in a Simultaneous Equation System," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(4), pages 931-959, July.
    13. Donald S. Kenkel & David C. Ribar, 1994. "Alcohol Consumption and Young Adults' Socioeconomic Status," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 25(1994 Micr), pages 119-175.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zheng, Emily Yiying, 2018. "Can technology really help to reduce underage drinking? New evidence on the effects of false ID laws with scanner provisions," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 102-112.
    2. Yörük, Barış K., 2014. "Can technology help to reduce underage drinking? Evidence from the false ID laws with scanner provision," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 33-46.
    3. Sarah See, 2016. "Parental supervision and adolescent risky behaviors," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 185-206, March.
    4. Andrew Sharpe & Alexander Murray, 2011. "State of the Evidence on Health as a Determinant of Productivity," CSLS Research Reports 2011-04, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    5. Yörük Barış K., 2017. "Health Insurance Coverage and Risky Health Behaviors among Young Adults," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(3), pages 1-21, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jenny Lye & Joe Hirschberg, 2010. "Alcohol Consumption And Human Capital: A Retrospective Study Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 309-338, April.
    2. Adams, Scott J. & Heywood, John S. & Ullman, Darin F. & Venkatesh, Shrathinth, 2022. "Social jobs and the returns to drinking," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    3. Marlon P. Mundt & Michael T. French, 2013. "Adolescent alcohol use, sociability and income as a young adult," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(23), pages 3329-3339, August.
    4. Alison Snow Jones & David W. Richmond, 2006. "Causal effects of alcoholism on earnings: estimates from the NLSY," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(8), pages 849-871, August.
    5. Daiji Kawaguchi & Jungmin Lee & Ming‐Jen Lin & Izumi Yokoyama, 2023. "Is Asian flushing syndrome a disadvantage in the labor market?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(7), pages 1478-1503, July.
    6. Philip J. Cook & Bethany Peters, 2005. "The Myth of the Drinker's Bonus," NBER Working Papers 11902, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Pinka Chatterji & Jeffrey DeSimone, 2006. "High School Alcohol Use and Young Adult Labor Market Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 12529, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Ana I. Balsa & Michael T. French, 2010. "Alcohol use and the labor market in Uruguay," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(7), pages 833-854, July.
    9. Yihong Bai & Michel Grignon, 2024. "Why do drinkers earn more? Job characteristics as a possible link," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(6), pages 1133-1152, June.
    10. Maryam Dilmaghani, 2022. "The link between smoking, drinking and wages: Health, workplace social capital or discrimination?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 160-183, March.
    11. 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, February.
    12. Bethany Peters, 2004. "Is there a wage bonus from drinking? Unobserved heterogeneity examined," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(20), pages 2299-2315.
    13. Ziebarth, Nicolas R. & Grabka, Markus M., 2009. "In Vino Pecunia? The Association Between Beverage-Specific Drinking Behavior and Wages," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 30, pages 219-244.
    14. Erdal Tekin, 2004. "Employment, Wages, and Alcohol Consumption in Russia," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 71(2), pages 397-417, October.
    15. Mullahy, John & Sindelar, Jody, 1996. "Employment, unemployment, and problem drinking," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 409-434, August.
    16. Ziggy MacDonald, 2004. "What Price Drug Use? The Contribution of Economics to an Evidence‐Based Drugs Policy," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 113-152, April.
    17. van Ours, Jan C., 2002. "A pint a day raises a man's pay; but smoking blows that gain away," IZA Discussion Papers 473, IZA Network @ LISER.
    18. M. Christopher Auld, 2005. "Smoking, Drinking, and Income," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(2).
    19. M. Christopher Auld, 1998. "Wages, Alcohol Use, and Smoking: Simultaneous Estimates," HEW 9808001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Inas Kelly & Dhaval Dave & Jody Sindelar & William Gallo, 2014. "The impact of early occupational choice on health behaviors," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 737-770, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:62:y:2008:i:1:p:92-103. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.