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The Price Elasticity of Hard Drugs: The Case of Opium in the Dutch East Indies, 1923-1938

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  • van Ours, Jan C

Abstract

At the beginning of this century, the Dutch government controlled the opium market in the Dutch East Indies--nowadays Indonesia--for several decades. This state monopoly was called the opiumregie. Using information gathered during the opiumregie, this paper estimates price elasticities of opium consumption. It appears that short-term price elasticities of opium use are about -0.7. Long-term price elasticities are about -1.0. Copyright 1995 by University of Chicago Press.

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  • van Ours, Jan C, 1995. "The Price Elasticity of Hard Drugs: The Case of Opium in the Dutch East Indies, 1923-1938," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(2), pages 261-279, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:v:103:y:1995:i:2:p:261-79
    DOI: 10.1086/261983
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    Cited by:

    1. Immordino, G. & Russo, F.F., 2015. "Regulating prostitution: A health risk approach," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 14-31.
    2. Bryan Caplan, 2006. "The Economics of Szasz," Rationality and Society, , vol. 18(3), pages 333-366, August.
    3. Giovanni Immordino & Francesco Flaviano Russo, 2012. "Regulating Prostitution: Theory and Evidence from Italy," CSEF Working Papers 308, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy, revised 12 Nov 2014.
    4. van Luijk, E.W. & van Ours, J.C., 1998. "On the Determinants of Opium Consumption; An Empirical Analysis of Historical Data," Other publications TiSEM 5878b5ed-f346-4b52-9b24-9, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Craig A. Gallet, 2014. "Can Price Get The Monkey Off Our Back? A Meta‐Analysis Of Illicit Drug Demand," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(1), pages 55-68, January.
    6. Ben Lakhdar, Christian & Leleu, Hervé & Vaillant, Nicolas Gérard & Wolff, François-Charles, 2013. "Efficiency of purchasing and selling agents in markets with quality uncertainty: The case of illicit drug transactions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 226(3), pages 646-657.
    7. Naci Mocan & Kaj Gittings, 2010. "The Impact of Incentives on Human Behavior: Can We Make it Disappear? The Case of the Death Penalty," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Crime: Lessons For and From Latin America, pages 379-418, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Frank J. Chaloupka & Michael Grossman & John A. Tauras, 1999. "The Demand for Cocaine and Marijuana by Youth," NBER Chapters, in: The Economic Analysis of Substance Use and Abuse: An Integration of Econometric and Behavioral Economic Research, pages 133-156, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Carrieri, Vincenzo & Madio, Leonardo & Principe, Francesco, 2020. "Do-It-Yourself medicine? The impact of light cannabis liberalization on prescription drugs," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    10. Grossman, Michael & Chaloupka, Frank J., 1998. "The demand for cocaine by young adults: a rational addiction approach," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 427-474, August.
    11. Henry Saffer & Frank J. Chaloupka, 1999. "Demographic Differentials in the Demand for Alcohol and Illicit Drugs," NBER Chapters, in: The Economic Analysis of Substance Use and Abuse: An Integration of Econometric and Behavioral Economic Research, pages 187-212, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Auriol, Emmanuelle & Mesnard, Alice & Perrault, Tiffanie, 2023. "Weeding out the dealers? The economics of cannabis legalization," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 62-101.
    13. van Luijk, E.W. & van Ours, J.C., 1998. "How government policy affects the consumption of hard drugs : The case of opium in Java, 1873-1907," Discussion Paper 98.065, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    14. Olmstead, Todd A. & Alessi, Sheila M. & Kline, Brendan & Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo & Petry, Nancy M., 2015. "The price elasticity of demand for heroin: Matched longitudinal and experimental evidence," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 59-71.
    15. Gathmann, Christina, 2008. "Effects of enforcement on illegal markets: Evidence from migrant smuggling along the southwestern border," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(10-11), pages 1926-1941, October.
    16. Auriol, Emmanuelle & Mesnard, Alice & Perrault, Tiffanie, 2019. "Defeating Crime? An Economic Analysis of Cannabis Legalization Policies," CEPR Discussion Papers 13814, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Liu, Jin-Long & Liu, Jin-Tan & Hammitt, James K. & Chou, Shin-Yi, 1999. "The price elasticity of opium in Taiwan, 1914-1942," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 795-810, December.
    18. Scott Cunningham & Keith Finlay, 2016. "Identifying Demand Responses to Illegal Drug Supply Interdictions," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(10), pages 1268-1290, October.
    19. Roger Collet & Mathieu de Lapparent & Laurent Hivert, 2010. "Addiction to car use and dynamic elasticity measures in France," Post-Print hal-00614966, HAL.
    20. Robert E. Marks, 2013. "Increasing Marginal Revenue and Demand Elasticity," Discussion Papers 2013-27, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    21. Clark, Andrew E., 1999. "Are wages habit-forming? evidence from micro data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 179-200, June.
    22. Jofre-Bonet, Mireia & Petry, Nancy M., 2008. "Trading apples for oranges?: Results of an experiment on the effects of Heroin and Cocaine price changes on addicts' polydrug use," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 281-311, May.
    23. Kuziemko, Ilyana & Levitt, Steven D., 2004. "An empirical analysis of imprisoning drug offenders," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 2043-2066, August.
    24. Collet, Roger & de Lapparent, Matthieu & Hivert, Laurent, 2015. "Are French households car-use addicts? A microeconomic perspective," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 86-94.
    25. Gary S. Becker & Kevin M. Murphy & Michael Grossman, 2006. "The Market for Illegal Goods: The Case of Drugs," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(1), pages 38-60, February.

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