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The Gorbachev Anti-Alcohol Campaign and Russia's Mortality Crisis

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  • Jay Bhattacharya
  • Christina Gathmann
  • Grant Miller

Abstract

Political and economic transition is often blamed for Russia's 40% surge in deaths between 1990 and 1994. Highlighting that increases in mortality occurred primarily among alcohol-related causes and among working-age men (the heaviest drinkers), this paper investigates an alternative explanation: the demise of the 1985-1988 Gorbachev Anti-Alcohol Campaign. Using archival sources to build a new oblast-year data set spanning 1978-2000, we find a variety of evidence suggesting that the campaign's end explains a large share of the mortality crisis - implying that Russia's transition to capitalism and democracy was not as lethal as commonly suggested.

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  • Jay Bhattacharya & Christina Gathmann & Grant Miller, 2012. "The Gorbachev Anti-Alcohol Campaign and Russia's Mortality Crisis," NBER Working Papers 18589, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18589
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    1. Jay Bhattacharya & Christina Gathmann & Grant Miller, 2013. "The Gorbachev Anti-alcohol Campaign and Russia's Mortality Crisis," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 232-260, April.
    2. 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).
    3. von Hinke, Stephanie & Leckie, George, 2017. "Protecting energy intakes against income shocks," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 210-232.
    4. Kai Barron & Charles D. H. Parry & Debbie Bradshaw & Rob Dorrington & Pam Groenewald & Ria Laubscher & Richard Matzopoulos, 2024. "Alcohol, Violence, and Injury-Induced Mortality: Evidence from a Modern-Day Prohibition," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 106(4), pages 938-955, July.
    5. Shenoy, Ajay & Sharma, Bhavyaa & Xu, Guanghong & Kapoor, Rolly & Rho, Haedong Aiden & Sangha, Kinpritma, 2022. "God is in the rain: The impact of rainfall-induced early social distancing on COVID-19 outbreaks," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    6. Vladimir A. Kozlov & Dina Y. Balalaeva, 2015. "Institutional Deficit and Health Outcomes in Post-Communist States," HSE Working papers WP BRP 25/PS/2015, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    7. de Goeij, Moniek C.M. & Suhrcke, Marc & Toffolutti, Veronica & van de Mheen, Dike & Schoenmakers, Tim M. & Kunst, Anton E., 2015. "How economic crises affect alcohol consumption and alcohol-related health problems: A realist systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 131-146.
    8. Avdic, Daniel & von Hinke, Stephanie, 2021. "Extending alcohol retailers’ opening hours: Evidence from Sweden," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    9. Kozlov, Vladimir A. & Rosenberg, Dina Y., 2018. "Institutional deficit and health outcomes in post-communist states," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 119-131.
    10. Kolosnitsyna, Marina (Колосницына, Марина) & Khorkina, Natalia (Хоркина, Наталья) & Dorjiev, Khongor (Доржиев, Хонгор), 2015. "The impact of price measures of state alcohol policy on the consumption of alcoholic beverages in Russia [Влияние Ценовых Мер Государственной Антиалкогольной Политики На Потребление Спиртных Напитк," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 5, pages 171-190.
    11. Paulone, Sara & Ivlevs, Artjoms, 2019. "Emigration and alcohol consumption among migrant household members staying behind: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 40-48.
    12. Zafar Nazarov & Anastassia Obydenkova, 2022. "Public Health, Democracy, and Transition: Global Evidence and Post-Communism," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 261-285, February.
    13. Malisauskaite, Gintare & Klein, Alexander, 2018. "Drinking under communism: Why do alcohol consumption habits in Eastern Europe differ from the west in the long-run?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 821-837.
    14. Giovanni Andrea Cornia, 2016. "The mortality crisis in transition economies," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 298-298, October.
    15. Elizabeth Brainerd, 2021. "Mortality in Russia Since the Fall of the Soviet Union," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 63(4), pages 557-576, December.
    16. Evgeny Yakovlev, 2012. "Peers and Alcohol: Evidence from Russia," Working Papers w0182, Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR).
    17. Radaev, Vadim V. (Радаев, Вадим) & Kotelnikova, Zoya V. (Котельникова, Зоя), 2016. "Changes in Alcohol Consumption and Governmental Alcohol Policy in Russia [Изменение Структуры Потребления Алкоголя В Контексте Государственной Алкогольной Политики В России]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 5, pages 92-117, October.
    18. Evgeny Yakovlev, 2021. "Alcoholism and mortality in Eastern Europe," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 168-168, August.
    19. Kugler Franziska & Schwerdt Guido & Wößmann Ludger, 2014. "Ökonometrische Methoden zur Evaluierung kausaler Effekte der Wirtschaftspolitik," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 15(2), pages 105-132, June.
    20. Giovanni Andrea Cornia, 2022. "Transition, Recession and Mortality Crisis in the Former Soviet Bloc: an update to the year 2014," Working Papers - Economics wp2022_04.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    21. Barron, Kai & Bradshaw, Debbie & Parry, Charles D. H. & Dorrington, Rob & Groenewald, Pam & Laubscher, Ria & Matzopoulos, Richard, 2021. "Alcohol and Short-Run Mortality: Evidence from a Modern-Day Prohibition," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 273, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-

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