Reducing binge drinking? The effect of a ban on late-night off-premise alcohol sales on alcohol-related hospital stays in Germany

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Marcus, Jan; Siedler, Thomas
• 署名单位: Leibniz Association; DIW Berlin - Deutsches Institut fur Wirtschaftsforschung; University of Hamburg
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2014.12.010
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 55-77
• 关键词: Binge drinking; Drinking hours; Alcohol control policies; difference-in-differences; Hospital diagnosis statistics; alcohol

摘要

Excessive alcohol consumption among young people is a major public health concern. On March 1, 2010, the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg banned the sale of alcoholic beverages between 10 pm and 5 am at off-premise outlets (e.g., gas stations, kiosks, supermarkets). We use rich monthly administrative data from a 70% random sample of all hospitalizations during the years 2007-2011 in Germany in order to evaluate the short-term impact of this policy on alcohol-related hospitalizations. Applying difference-in-differences methods, we find that the policy change reduces alcohol-related hospitalizations among adolescents and young adults by about 7%. There is also evidence of a decrease in the number of hospitalizations due to violent assault as a result of the ban. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.