This project seeks to ascertain whether laws restricting packaged liquor sales on Sundays protect public health by reducing crime. Although a range of existing studies provide evidence of an effect of alcohol availability on crime, no existing studies have examined Sunday liquor sales restrictions. Such restrictions are widespread in the U.S., with 15 states and hundreds of counties enforcing existing laws. The study addresses four major questions: 1) Does allowing packaged liquor sales on Sunday affect public health by increasing crime? 2) Do Sunday liquor sales contribute to domestic violence? 3) Do Sunday liquor sales differentially contribute to crime across subpopulations? and 4) How do the crime costs of Sunday alcohol sales compare to the revenues generated through these sales? To answer these questions, the study exploits a 2004 law change that relaxed Sunday sales restrictions in 11 of the 134 jurisdictions within the state of Virginia, examining whether crime rose in those jurisdictions after the law was implemented. Because many factors affect crime, empirically isolating the casual effect of the new law on crime is challenging. For example, alcohol-related advertising, enforcement patterns, and the demographic characteristics of the population may have all changed across the period when Sunday liquor sales were introduced, and each of these factors might exert an independent effect on crime rates. The study utilizes a differences-in-differences estimation approach that that controls for such confounding factors by comparing crime incidence across days of the week, across the pre- and post-law implementation period, and across jurisdictions. In addition to examining overall crime incidence, the study separately analyzes domestic violence. It also examines whether the effects of the new law spilled over into neighboring counties, were greater for certain types of jurisdictions, or changed over time. The study also considers whether the characteristics of arrestees altered as a result of the new law, which would indicate a disparate impact on specific groups. The analysis will indicate to policymakers considering the repeal of Sunday liquor sales bans whether such revisions are likely to impact crime.
This research will demonstrate whether laws permitting the purchase of liquor on Sundays affect public health by increasing crime and domestic violence. Such laws have been recently enacted in six states and are under consideration in a number of other jurisdictions.
| Heaton, Paul (2012) Sunday Liquor Laws and Crime. J Public Econ 96:42-52 |
