Alcohol is influenced by the economic environment in a variety of ways. Higher liquor taxes deter consumption by directly raising the cost of obtaining alcohol. Availability constrains, such as higher minimum legal drinking ages, indirectly increase costs and so reduce drinking among the affected groups. Alcohol consumption may also be influenced by macroeconomic conditions. Local or national downturns raise unemployment, reduce job security, and decrease earnings. The resulting effects on drinking are ambiguous. Declining incomes reduce the ability of individuals to purchase alcohol, which decreases use, and drinking in commercial establishments may fall disproportionately. Conversely, elevated joblessness and insecurity about current employment may increase stress. If alcohol is used as self-medication., consumption could then increase, particularly for groups who are at greatest risk. Whereas the effect of microeconomic factors, particularly taxes and minimum drinking ages, on alcohol use have been extensively researched, less attention has been paid to the role of the macroeconomy Recent research suggests that alcohol consumption and highway traffic fatalities decline when the economy worsens. However, these studies rely on aggregate data and so provide little information on the composition of the reduction. For instance, we do not know whether the decreases are concentrated among """"""""light"""""""" or """"""""heavy"""""""" drinkers, individuals experiencing unemployment, pr particular demographic groups. This project will use microdata from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to help answer the following questions. First, does analysis using individual level data confirm the results of previous research indicating that drinking and drunk-driving fall when the economy deteriorates? Second, what are the components of the decline in average alcohol consumption. Specifically, is the reduction concentrated among """"""""light"""""""" or """"""""heavy"""""""" drinkers and among working or non-employed individuals? Third, do the patterns vary by age, sex, or race and ethnicity? This research will increase our understanding of the determinants of alcohol use and abuse, improve our ability to focus prevention efforts and enable us to more accurate measure the costs to society of problem drinking. It will also supply new information on the costs and benefits of macroeconomic stabilization policies and on the interrelationships between the economic and psychological determinants of health.
| Ruhm, Christopher J (2007) A healthy economy can break your heart. Demography 44:829-48 |
| Ruhm, Christopher J; Black, William E (2002) Does drinking really decrease in bad times? J Health Econ 21:659-78 |
