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Alcohol Regulation And Crime

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  • Carpenter, Christopher
  • Dobkin, Carlos

Abstract

We provide a critical review of research in economics that has examined causal relationships between alcohol use and crime. We lay out several causal pathways through which alcohol regulation and alcohol consumption may affect crime, including: direct pharmacological effects on aggression, reaction time, and motor impairment; excuse motivations; venues and social interactions; and victimization risk. We focus our review on four main types of alcohol regulations: price/tax restrictions, age-based availability restrictions, spatial availability restrictions, and temporal availability restrictions. We conclude that there is strong evidence that tax- and age-based restrictions on alcohol availability reduce crime, and we discuss implications for policy and practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Carpenter, Christopher & Dobkin, Carlos, 2010. "Alcohol Regulation And Crime," Working Papers 90485, American Association of Wine Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aawewp:90485
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.90485
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    1. Does regulating alcohol reduce crime?
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2010-07-15 18:59:00

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    3. Beau Kilmer & Greg Midgette, 2020. "Criminal Deterrence: Evidence from an Individual‐Level Analysis of 24/7 Sobriety," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(3), pages 801-834, June.
    4. Burhan, Nik Ahmad Sufian & Che Razak, Razli & Selamat, Muhamad Rosli & Rosli, Muhamad Ridhwan, 2017. "Intellectual Giftedness for Leadership: How Robust is the Crime Reducing Effect of Intellectual Class?," MPRA Paper 77467, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. 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.
    6. Avdic, Daniel & von Hinke, Stephanie, 2021. "Extending alcohol retailers’ opening hours: Evidence from Sweden," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    7. 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.
    8. Jason M. Lindo & Charles Stoecker, 2014. "Drawn Into Violence: Evidence On “What Makes A Criminal” From The Vietnam Draft Lotteries," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(1), pages 239-258, January.
    9. Saloni Khurana & Kanika Mahajan, 2022. "Public Safety for Women: Is Regulation of Social Drinking Spaces Effective?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(1), pages 164-182, January.
    10. Kym Anderson, 2019. "Excise and Import Taxes on Wine Versus Beer and Spirits: An International Comparison," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Kym Anderson (ed.), The International Economics of Wine, chapter 18, pages 437-459, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    11. Burhan, Nik Ahmad Sufian & Kurniawan, Yohan & Sidek, Abdul Halim & Mohamad, Mohd Rosli, 2014. "Crimes and the Bell Curve: The Role of People with High, Average, and Low Intelligence," MPRA Paper 77314, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Gordon Dahl & Stefano DellaVigna, 2009. "Does Movie Violence Increase Violent Crime?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(2), pages 677-734.
    13. Jeff Thurk, 2015. "Measuring the Unequal Implications of One Size Fits All Regulation," 2015 Meeting Papers 1251, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    14. Miravete, Eugenio & Seim, Katja & Thurk, Jeff, 2013. "Complexity, Efficiency, and Fairness of Multi-Product Monopoly Pricing," CEPR Discussion Papers 9641, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Sara Markowitz & Erik Nesson & Eileen Poe-Yamagata & Curtis Florence & Partha Deb & Tracy Andrews & Sarah Beth L. Barnett, 2012. "Estimating the Relationship between Alcohol Policies and Criminal Violence and Victimization," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 13(4), pages 416-435, November.
    16. Durrance, Christine Piette & Golden, Shelley & Perreira, Krista & Cook, Philip, 2011. "Taxing sin and saving lives: Can alcohol taxation reduce female homicides?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 169-176, July.
    17. Hunt, Priscillia E & Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo & Weinberger, Gabriel, 2018. "High on Crime? Exploring the Effects of Marijuana Dispensary Laws on Crime in California Counties," IZA Discussion Papers 11567, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Zachary S. Fone, 2023. "You Booze, You Lose? Spillovers to Crime from Alcohol Sales at College Football Games," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 24(2), pages 193-240, February.
    19. Dara Lee Luca & Emily Owens & Gunjan Sharma, 2019. "The effectiveness and effects of alcohol regulation: evidence from India," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-26, December.
    20. Heaton, Paul, 2012. "Sunday liquor laws and crime," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 42-52.
    21. Ljunge Martin, 2011. "Do Taxes Produce Better Wine?," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-16, December.
    22. Isabel Musse & Rodrigo Schneider, 2023. "The effect of presidential election outcomes on alcohol drinking," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 146-162, March.
    23. Kym Anderson, 2010. "Excise and Import Taxes on Wine vs Beer and Spirits: An International Comparison," Wine Economics Research Centre Working Papers 2010-05, University of Adelaide, Wine Economics Research Centre.
    24. David K Humphreys & Manuel P Eisner & Douglas J Wiebe, 2013. "Evaluating the Impact of Flexible Alcohol Trading Hours on Violence: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(2), pages 1-9, February.

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    Keywords

    Health Economics and Policy; Public Economics;

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • K0 - Law and Economics - - General

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