IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/hlthec/v23y2014i10p1260-1280.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gender Differences In Alcohol Demand: A Systematic Review Of The Role Of Prices And Taxes

Author

Listed:
  • Jon P. Nelson

Abstract

Gender differences in drinking patterns are potentially important for public policies, especially policies that rely extensively on higher alcohol taxes and prices. This paper presents a systematic review of alcohol prices and gender differences in drinking and heavy drinking by adults and young adults. Starting with a database of 578 studies of alcohol demand and other outcomes, 15 studies are reviewed of adult drinking including discussion of samples, measurement issues, econometric models, special variables, and key empirical results. A similar discussion is presented for eight studies of drinking by young adults, ages 18–26 years. Four conclusions are obtained from the review. First, adult men have less elastic demands compared with women. Second, there is little or no price response by heavy‐drinking adults, regardless of gender. Third, although the sample is small, price might be important for drinking participation by young adults. Fourth, the results strongly suggest that heavy drinking by young adults, regardless of gender, is not easily dissuaded by higher prices. Policy implications, primary study limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Jon P. Nelson, 2014. "Gender Differences In Alcohol Demand: A Systematic Review Of The Role Of Prices And Taxes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(10), pages 1260-1280, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:23:y:2014:i:10:p:1260-1280
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.2974
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.2974
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/hec.2974?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. Anne Ludbrook, 2009. "Minimum pricing of alcohol," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(12), pages 1357-1360, December.
    2. Michael T. French & Johanna C. Maclean, 2006. "Underage alcohol use, delinquency, and criminal activity," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(12), pages 1261-1281, December.
    3. Paul Baker & Vanessa Brechling, 1992. "The impact of excise duty changes on retail prices in the UK," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 13(2), pages 48-65, January.
    4. Young, Douglas J & Bieli´nska-Kwapisz, Agnieszka, 2002. "Alcohol Taxes and Beverage Prices," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 55(1), pages 57-73, March.
    5. Keng, Shao-Hsun, 1998. "The demand for health, alcohol abuse, and labor market outcomes: a longitudinal study," ISU General Staff Papers 1998010108000012934, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    6. Young, Douglas J & Bieli´nska-Kwapisz, Agnieszka, 2002. "Alcohol Taxes and Beverage Prices," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 55(N. 1), pages 57-73, March.
    7. Pierpaolo Pierani & Silvia Tiezzi, 2011. "Infrequency of Purchase, Individual Heterogeneity and Rational Addiction in Single Households’ Estimates of Alcohol Consumption," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 70(2), pages 93-116, July.
    8. Yuriy Andrienko & A. Nemtsov, 2006. "Estimation of Individual Demand for Alcohol," Working Papers w0089, Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR).
    9. Jenny Williams & Frank J. Chaloupka & Henry Wechsler, 2005. "Are There Differential Effects of Price and Policy on College Students’Drinking Intensity?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 23(1), pages 78-90, January.
    10. Bruce Simons-Morton & Tilda Farhat & Tom Bogt & Anne Hublet & Emmanuel Kuntsche & Saoirse Nic Gabhainn & Emmanuelle Godeau & Anna Kokkevi, 2009. "Gender specific trends in alcohol use: cross-cultural comparisons from 1998 to 2006 in 24 countries and regions," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 54(2), pages 199-208, September.
    11. Matthew Sutton & Christine Godfrey, 1995. "A grouped data regression approach to estimating economic and social influences on individual drinking behaviour," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 4(3), pages 237-247, May.
    12. Badi H. Baltagi & Ingo Geishecker, 2006. "Rational alcohol addiction: evidence from the Russian longitudinal monitoring survey," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(9), pages 893-914, September.
    13. Gabriel A. Picone & Frank Sloan & Justin G. Trogdon, 2004. "The effect of the tobacco settlement and smoking bans on alcohol consumption," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(10), pages 1063-1080, October.
    14. Sandra L. Decker & Amy Ellen Schwartz, 2000. "Cigarettes and Alcohol: Substitutes or Complements?," NBER Working Papers 7535, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Jon Nelson, 2013. "Meta-analysis of alcohol price and income elasticities – with corrections for publication bias," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-10, December.
    16. Cook, Philip J. & Moore, Michael J., 1999. "Alcohol," Working Papers 156, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    17. Philip J. Cook, 2007. "Introduction to Paying the Tab: The Costs and Benefits of Alcohol Control," Introductory Chapters, in: Paying the Tab: The Costs and Benefits of Alcohol Control, Princeton University Press.
    18. Kenkel, Donald S, 1996. "New Estimates of the Optimal Tax on Alcohol," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 34(2), pages 296-319, April.
    19. West, Sara E. & Parry, Ian W.H., 2009. "Alcohol-Leisure Complementarity: Empirical Estimates and Implications for Tax Policy," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 62(4), pages 611-633, December.
    20. Donald S. Kenkel, 2005. "Are Alcohol Tax Hikes Fully Passed Through to Prices? Evidence from Alaska," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 273-277, May.
    21. Yuriy Andrienko & A. Nemtsov, 2006. "Estimation of Individual Demand for Alcohol," Working Papers w0089, New Economic School (NES).
    22. Kuntsche, E. & Rehm, J. & Gmel, G., 2004. "Characteristics of binge drinkers in Europe," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 113-127, July.
    23. Kenkel, Donald S, 1993. "Drinking, Driving, and Deterrence: The Effectiveness and Social Costs of Alternative Policies," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(2), pages 877-913, October.
    24. Frank J. Chaloupka & Henry Wechsler, 1996. "Binge Drinking In College: The Impact Of Price, Availability, And Alcohol Control Policies," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 14(4), pages 112-124, October.
    25. 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.
    26. Jeffrey D. Kubik & John R. Moran, 2001. "Can Policy Changes Be Treated as Natural Experiments? Evidence from State Excise Taxes," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 39, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
    27. Wagenaar, A.C. & Tobler, A.L. & Komro, K.A., 2010. "Effects of alcohol tax and price policies on morbidity and mortality: A systematic review," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(11), pages 2270-2278.
    28. Pogue, Thomas F & Sgontz, Larry G, 1989. "Taxing to Control Social Costs: The Case of Alcohol," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(1), pages 235-243, March.
    29. M. Christopher Auld, 2005. "Smoking, Drinking, and Income," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(2).
    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. Williams, Jenny & Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo & Smart, Rosanna, 2019. "De Facto or De Jure? Ethnic Differences in Quit Responses to Legal Protections of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries," IZA Discussion Papers 12114, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Martín-Román, Ángel L. & Moral, Alfonso & Pinillos-Franco, Sara, 2022. "Are women breaking the glass ceiling? A gendered analysis of the duration of sick leave in Spain," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1099, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Anurag Sharma & Fabrice Etilé & Kompal Sinha, 2016. "The Effect of Introducing a Minimum Price on the Distribution of Alcohol Purchase: A Counterfactual Analysis," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(9), pages 1182-1200, September.
    4. Jon Nelson, 2015. "Binge drinking and alcohol prices: a systematic review of age-related results from econometric studies, natural experiments and field studies," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Ajilore, Olugbenga & Amialchuk, Aliaksandr & Egan, Keven, 2016. "Alcohol consumption by youth: Peers, parents, or prices?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 76-83.
    6. Nelson, Jon P. & McNall, Amy D., 2016. "Alcohol prices, taxes, and alcohol-related harms: A critical review of natural experiments in alcohol policy for nine countries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(3), pages 264-272.
    7. Ce Shang & Xuening Wang & Frank J Chaloupka, 2018. "The association between excise tax structures and the price variability of alcoholic beverages in the United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-13, December.

    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. Jon Nelson, 2015. "Binge drinking and alcohol prices: a systematic review of age-related results from econometric studies, natural experiments and field studies," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Nelson, Jon P., 2014. "Binge Drinking, Alcohol Prices, And Alcohol Taxes," Working Papers 164652, American Association of Wine Economists.
    3. Parry, Ian W.H. & Laxminarayan, Ramanan & West, Sarah E., 2006. "Fiscal and Externality Rationales for Alcohol Taxes," RFF Working Paper Series dp-06-51, Resources for the Future.
    4. Ruhm, Christopher J. & Jones, Alison Snow & McGeary, Kerry Anne & Kerr, William C. & Terza, Joseph V. & Greenfield, Thomas K. & Pandian, Ravi S., 2012. "What U.S. data should be used to measure the price elasticity of demand for alcohol?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 851-862.
    5. West, Sara E. & Parry, Ian W.H., 2009. "Alcohol-Leisure Complementarity: Empirical Estimates and Implications for Tax Policy," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 62(4), pages 611-633, December.
    6. Anne Ludbrook & John Holmes & Tim Stockwell, 2014. "Gender Differences In Alcohol Demand: A Systematic Review Of The Role Of Prices And Taxes. Comment On Conclusions By Nelson," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(10), pages 1281-1283, October.
    7. Christopher Carpenter & Carlos Dobkin, 2010. "Alcohol Regulation and Crime," NBER Chapters, in: Controlling Crime: Strategies and Tradeoffs, pages 291-329, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Dhaval Dave & Henry Saffer, 2007. "Risk Tolerance and Alcohol Demand Among Adults and Older Adults," NBER Working Papers 13482, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Padmaja Ayyagari & Partha Deb & Jason Fletcher & William T. Gallo & Jody L. Sindelar, 2009. "Sin Taxes: Do Heterogeneous Responses Undercut Their Value?," NBER Working Papers 15124, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Evan Herrnstadt & Ian Parry & Juha Siikamäki, 2015. "Do alcohol taxes in Europe and the US rightly correct for externalities?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 22(1), pages 73-101, February.
    11. Dave, Dhaval & Saffer, Henry, 2008. "Alcohol demand and risk preference," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 810-831, December.
    12. Ce Shang & Anh Ngo & Frank J. Chaloupka, 2020. "The pass-through of alcohol excise taxes to prices in OECD countries," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(6), pages 855-867, August.
    13. Parry Ian W. H. & West Sarah E & Laxminarayan Ramanan, 2009. "Fiscal and Externality Rationales for Alcohol Policies," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-48, July.
    14. Padmaja Ayyagari & Partha Deb & Jason Fletcher & William Gallo & Jody L. Sindelar, 2013. "Understanding Heterogeneity In Price Elasticities In The Demand For Alcohol For Older Individuals," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(1), pages 89-105, January.
    15. Barrie M. Craven & Michael L. Marlow & Alden F. Shiers, 2013. "The Economics of Minimum Pricing for Alcohol," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 174-189, June.
    16. Bartkus Algirdas, 2019. "The Impact of Excise Tax Increases on Ethyl Alcohol Sales in Lithuania," Ekonomika (Economics), Sciendo, vol. 98(2), pages 55-75, December.
    17. Sijbren Cnossen, 2006. "Alcohol Taxation and Regulation in the European Union," CESifo Working Paper Series 1821, CESifo.
    18. Laurie J. Bates & Resul Cesur & Rexford E. Santerre, 2015. "Short‐run marginal medical costs from booze and butts: Evidence from the states," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 81(4), pages 1074-1095, April.
    19. Kolosnitsyna, Marina & Sukhanova, Varvara, 2023. "Price elasticities revisited: The effect of price changes caused by taxation on the amount of alcohol consumed," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 69, pages 28-47.
    20. Adrian R. Fleissig, 2016. "Changing Trends in U.S. Alcohol Demand," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 44(3), pages 263-276, September.

    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:wly:hlthec:v:23:y:2014:i:10:p:1260-1280. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/5749 .

    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.