Alcohol, Violence, and Injury-Induced Mortality: Evidence from a Modern-Day Prohibition

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Barron, Kai; Parry, Charles D. H.; Bradshaw, Debbie; Dorrington, Rob; Groenewald, Pam; Laubscher, Ria; Matzopoulos, Richard
• 署名单位: South African Medical Research Council; Stellenbosch University; University of Cape Town
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01228
• 发表日期: 2024-07
• 页码: 938-955
• 关键词: legal drinking age; socioeconomic-status; trading hours; SOUTH-AFRICA; dry laws; consumption; IMPACT; BEHAVIOR; disease; youth

摘要

This paper evaluates the impact of a sudden and unexpected nationwide alcohol sales ban in South Africa. We find that this policy causally reduced injury-induced mortality in the country by at least 14%. We argue that this estimate constitutes a lower bound on the true impact of alcohol on injury-induced mortality. We also document a sharp drop in violent crimes, indicating a tight link between alcohol and aggressive behavior in society. Our results underscore the severe harm that alcohol can cause and point toward a role for policy measures that target the heaviest drinkers in society.