IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/hlthec/v24y2015i4p419-438.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effects of Alcohol on the Consumption of Hard Drugs: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 1997

Author

Listed:
  • Monica Deza

Abstract

This paper estimates the effect of alcohol use on consumption of hard drugs using the exogenous decrease in the cost of accessing alcohol that occurs when individuals reach the minimum legal drinking age. By using a regression discontinuity design and the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997, I find that all measures of alcohol consumption, even alcohol initiation increase discontinuously at age 21 years. I also find evidence that consumption of hard drugs decreased by 1.5 to 2 percentage points and the probability of initiating the use of hard drugs decreased by 1 percentage point at the age of 21 years, while the intensity of use among users remained unchanged. These estimates are robust to a variety of specifications and also remain robust across different subsamples. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Monica Deza, 2015. "The Effects of Alcohol on the Consumption of Hard Drugs: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 1997," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 419-438, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:24:y:2015:i:4:p:419-438
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.3027
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3027
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/hec.3027?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. Crost, Benjamin & Guerrero, Santiago, 2012. "The effect of alcohol availability on marijuana use: Evidence from the minimum legal drinking age," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 112-121.
    2. Christopher S. Carpenter, 2005. "Heavy Alcohol Use and the Commission of Nuisance Crime: Evidence from Underage Drunk Driving Laws," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 267-272, May.
    3. DiNardo, John & Lemieux, Thomas, 2001. "Alcohol, marijuana, and American youth: the unintended consequences of government regulation," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 991-1010, November.
    4. Sara Markowitz, 2000. "The Price of Alcohol, Wife Abuse, and Husband Abuse," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 67(2), pages 279-303, July.
    5. Frank J. Chaloupka & Adit Laixuthai, 1997. "Do Youths Substitute Alcohol and Marijuana? Some Econometric Evidence," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 23(3), pages 253-276, Summer.
    6. Christopher Carpenter, 2004. "Heavy alcohol use and youth suicide: Evidence from tougher drunk driving laws," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(4), pages 831-842.
    7. J. Williams & Rosalie Liccardo Pacula & Frank J. Chaloupka & Henry Wechsler, 2004. "Alcohol and marijuana use among college students: economic complements or substitutes?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(9), pages 825-843, September.
    8. Markowitz, Sara & Grossman, Michael, 2000. "The effects of beer taxes on physical child abuse," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 271-282, March.
    9. Becker, Gary S & Grossman, Michael & Murphy, Kevin M, 1991. "Rational Addiction and the Effect of Price on Consumption," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(2), pages 237-241, May.
    10. Christopher Carpenter & Carlos Dobkin, 2009. "The Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Mortality: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from the Minimum Drinking Age," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 164-182, January.
    11. Joksch, Hans C. & Jones, Ralph K., 1993. "Changes in the drinking age and crime," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 209-221.
    12. Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo, 1998. "Does increasing the beer tax reduce marijuana consumption?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 557-585, October.
    13. Imbens, Guido W. & Lemieux, Thomas, 2008. "Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 615-635, February.
    14. Markowitz, Sara, 2005. "Alcohol, Drugs and Violent Crime," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 20-44, March.
    15. Becker, Gary S & Murphy, Kevin M, 1988. "A Theory of Rational Addiction," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(4), pages 675-700, August.
    16. Conlin, Michael & Dickert-Conlin, Stacy & Pepper, John, 2005. "The Effect of Alcohol Prohibition on Illicit-Drug-Related Crimes," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 48(1), pages 215-234, April.
    17. Stigler, George J & Becker, Gary S, 1977. "De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(2), pages 76-90, March.
    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. Kamalow, Raffael & Siedler, Thomas, 2019. "The Effects of Stepwise Minimum Legal Drinking Age Legislation on Mortality: Evidence from Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 12456, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Steven F. Koch & Jeffrey S. Racine, 2016. "Healthcare facility choice and user fee abolition: regression discontinuity in a multinomial choice setting," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 179(4), pages 927-950, October.
    3. Ahammer, Alexander & Bauernschuster, Stefan & Halla, Martin & Lachenmaier, Hannah, 2022. "Minimum legal drinking age and the social gradient in binge drinking," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    4. Jason M. Fletcher, 2019. "Estimating Causal Effects Of Alcohol Access And Use On A Broad Set Of Risky Behaviors: Regression Discontinuity Evidence," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(3), pages 427-448, July.
    5. Heckley, Gawain & Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Jarl, Johan, 2018. "Too Young to Die: Regression Discontinuity of a Two-Part Minimum Legal Drinking Age Policy and the Causal Effect of Alcohol on Health," Working Papers 2018:4, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    6. Kabir Dasgupta & Christopher Erwin & Alexander Plum, 2020. "The Devil is in the Details: Identifying the Unbiased Link between Access to Alcohol and Criminal Behavior," Working Papers 2020-12, Auckland University of Technology, Department of Economics.
    7. Jose Fernandez & Stephan Gohmann & Joshua C. Pinkston, 2018. "Breaking Bad in Bourbon Country: Does Alcohol Prohibition Encourage Methamphetamine Production?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 84(4), pages 1001-1023, April.
    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. Courtemanche, Charles & Tchernis, Rusty & Ukert, Benjamin, 2018. "The effect of smoking on obesity: Evidence from a randomized trial," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 31-44.
    10. Hansen, Benjamin & Waddell, Glen R., 2018. "Legal access to alcohol and criminality," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 277-289.
    11. Nguyen, Hieu, 2019. "How does alcohol access affect transitional adults’ healthy dietary behaviors?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 82-95.
    12. Kabir Dasgupta & Alexander Plum & Christopher Erwin, 2022. "The Devil is in the Details: Identifying Unbiased Link between Alcohol Purchasing Rights and Youth Delinquency," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(6), pages 1380-1431, December.
    13. Nicolai Brachowicz & Judit Vall Castello, 2019. "Is changing the minimum legal drinking age an effective policy tool?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(12), pages 1483-1490, December.
    14. Briggs Depew & Jacob Meyer, 2023. "Legal access to alcohol and automobile accidents: Potential interactive effects of alcohol and drug consumption," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(2), pages 338-353, April.

    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. Yörük, BarIs K. & Yörük, Ceren Ertan, 2011. "The impact of minimum legal drinking age laws on alcohol consumption, smoking, and marijuana use: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design using exact date of birth," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 740-752, July.
    2. D. Mark Anderson & Benjamin Crost & Daniel I. Rees, 2018. "Wet Laws, Drinking Establishments and Violent Crime," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(611), pages 1333-1366, June.
    3. Briggs Depew & Jacob Meyer, 2023. "Legal access to alcohol and automobile accidents: Potential interactive effects of alcohol and drug consumption," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(2), pages 338-353, April.
    4. Anderson, D. Mark & Rees, Daniel I., 2021. "The Public Health Effects of Legalizing Marijuana," IZA Discussion Papers 14292, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. D. Mark Anderson & Benjamin Hansen & Daniel I. Rees, 2013. "Medical Marijuana Laws, Traffic Fatalities, and Alcohol Consumption," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(2), pages 333-369.
    6. Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, 1998. "Adolescent Alcohol and Marijuana Consumption: Is There Really a Gateway Effect?," NBER Working Papers 6348, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Luis Rodrigo Arnabal, 2021. "Optimal design of sin taxes in the presence of nontaxable sin goods," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(7), pages 1580-1599, July.
    8. Crost, Benjamin & Guerrero, Santiago, 2012. "The effect of alcohol availability on marijuana use: Evidence from the minimum legal drinking age," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 112-121.
    9. Erik Nesson & Vinish Shrestha, 2021. "The effects of false identification laws on underage alcohol‐related traffic fatalities," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(9), pages 2264-2283, September.
    10. Erik Nesson & Vinish Shrestha, 2016. "The Effects of False Identification Laws with a Scanner Provision on Underage Alcohol-Related Traffic Fatalities," Working Papers 2016-17, Towson University, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2020.
    11. Cook, Philip J. & Durrance, Christine Piette, 2013. "The virtuous tax: Lifesaving and crime-prevention effects of the 1991 federal alcohol-tax increase," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 261-267.
    12. Marcus, Jan & Siedler, Thomas, 2015. "Reducing binge drinking? The effect of a ban on late-night off-premise alcohol sales on alcohol-related hospital stays in Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 0, pages 55-77.
    13. Conover, Emily & Scrimgeour, Dean, 2013. "Health consequences of easier access to alcohol: New Zealand evidence," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 570-585.
    14. Hollingsworth, Alex & Wing, Coady, 2020. "Tactics for design and inference in synthetic control studies: An applied example using high-dimensional data," SocArXiv fc9xt, Center for Open Science.
    15. Hefei Wen & Jason Hockenberry & Janet R. Cummings, 2014. "The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on Marijuana, Alcohol, and Hard Drug Use," NBER Working Papers 20085, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Wen, Hefei & Hockenberry, Jason M. & Cummings, Janet R., 2015. "The effect of medical marijuana laws on adolescent and adult use of marijuana, alcohol, and other substances," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 64-80.
    17. Nicolai Brachowicz & Judit Vall Castello, 2019. "Is changing the minimum legal drinking age an effective policy tool?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(12), pages 1483-1490, December.
    18. Jose Fernandez & Stephan Gohmann & Joshua C. Pinkston, 2018. "Breaking Bad in Bourbon Country: Does Alcohol Prohibition Encourage Methamphetamine Production?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 84(4), pages 1001-1023, April.
    19. Timothy R. Hodge & Cooper Hazel, 2022. "The munchies: Marijuana legalization and food sales in Washington," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(1), pages 112-137, July.
    20. Michele Baggio & Alberto Chong & Sungoh Kwon, 2020. "Marijuana and alcohol: Evidence using border analysis and retail sales data," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(2), pages 563-591, May.

    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:24:y:2015:i:4:p:419-438. 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.