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A Pint for A Pound? Minimum Drinking Age Laws and Birth Outcomes

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  • Alan Barreca
  • Marianne Page

Abstract

Minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) laws are known to reduce alcohol consumption among young adults. One additional benefit of higher MLDAs may be that they improve health outcomes among infants born to young mothers. We estimate the impact of MLDAs on infant health in the USA by comparing birth outcomes among 14–20 year old mothers who were exposed to different MLDAs because of when and where they gave birth. Infants born to mothers who were between the ages of 21 and 24 years are included as a control group. We find that low MLDAs are associated with very small birth weight reductions, but have a little relationship with other traditional measures of infant health. We find compelling evidence, however, that a low MLDA increases the probability of a female birth, which suggests that restricting alcohol access to young mothers may reduce fetal deaths. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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  • Alan Barreca & Marianne Page, 2015. "A Pint for A Pound? Minimum Drinking Age Laws and Birth Outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 400-418, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:24:y:2015:i:4:p:400-418
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.3026
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    2. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn & Peter Brummund & Jason Cook & Miriam Larson-Koester, 2020. "Is there still son preference in the United States?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 709-750, July.
    3. Wojciech Gryzbowski & Aleksandra Adamicz & Hanna Wysocki, 2021. "The Social Externality of Health Insurance: Evidence from Unemployment Insurance Generosity and Children Mortality," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 2, pages 262-279, July.
    4. Hope Corman & Dhaval Dave & Nancy E. Reichman, 2018. "Evolution of the Infant Health Production Function," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(1), pages 6-47, July.
    5. Zhang, Xiaohan, 2020. "Parents in Temperance," MPRA Paper 101038, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Cygan-Rehm, Kamila & Karbownik, Krzysztof, 2022. "The effects of incentivizing early prenatal care on infant health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    7. Yamamura, Eiji, 2020. "Long term impact of parents’ smoking on their children’s health: Childhood circumstances and adult outcomes," MPRA Paper 99167, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Jason M. Lindo & Peter Siminski & Oleg Yerokhin, 2016. "Breaking The Link Between Legal Access To Alcohol And Motor Vehicle Accidents: Evidence From New South Wales," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(7), pages 908-928, July.
    9. Deza, Monica, 2019. "Graduated driver licensing and teen fertility," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 51-62.
    10. Teltser, Keith & Lennon, Conor & Burgdorf, Jacob, 2021. "Do ridesharing services increase alcohol consumption?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    11. Cil, Gulcan, 2017. "Effects of posted point-of-sale warnings on alcohol consumption during pregnancy and on birth outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 131-155.
    12. Pierre Mouganie & Ruba Ajeeb & Mark Hoekstra, 2020. "The Effect of Open-Air Waste Burning on Infant Health: Evidence from Government Failure in Lebanon," NBER Working Papers 26835, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Noghanibehambari, Hamid & Fletcher, Jason, 2023. "In utero and childhood exposure to alcohol and old age mortality: Evidence from the temperance movement in the US," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    14. Eiji Yamamura & Yoshiro Tsutsui, 2019. "Effects of Pregnancy and Birth on Smoking and Drinking Behaviours: A Comparative Study Between Men and Women," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 70(2), pages 210-234, June.
    15. Gilpin, Gregory, 2019. "Teen driver licensure provisions, licensing, and vehicular fatalities," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 54-70.

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