The impact of minimum legal drinking age laws on alcohol consumption, smoking, and marijuana use revisited

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 477-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barış K. Yörük ◽  
Ceren Ertan Yörük
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Marijuana Use ◽  
Drinking Age ◽  
Minimum Legal Drinking Age ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals The Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Labor Market Outcomes of Young Adults: Evidence from Minimum Legal Drinking Age Laws

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 1297-1324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ceren Ertan Yörük
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Labor Market Outcomes ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Drinking Age ◽  
Minimum Legal Drinking Age ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This paper uses a regression discontinuity design to estimate the impact of the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) laws on alcohol consumption and labor market outcomes of young adults. Using confidential data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Cohort (NLSY97), I find that granting legal access to alcohol at age 21 leads to an increase in several measures of alcohol consumption. The discrete jump in the alcohol consumption at the MLDA has also negative spillover effects on the labor market outcomes of young adults. In particular, I document that the MLDA is associated with a 1 hour decrease in weekly working hours. However, the effect of the MLDA laws on wages is negative only under certain specifications. These results suggest that the policies designed to curb drinking may not only have desirable effects in reducing alcohol consumption among young adults but also have positive spillover effects on their labor market outcomes.

scholarly journals The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Public Health

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Carpenter ◽  
Carlos Dobkin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Correct Choice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Alcoholic Beverages ◽  
Drinking Age ◽  
Minimum Legal Drinking Age ◽  
Panel Fixed Effects

The Amethyst Initiative, signed by more than 100 college presidents and other higher education officials calls for a reexamination of the minimum legal drinking age in the United States. A central argument of the initiative is that the U.S. minimum legal drinking age policy results in more dangerous drinking than would occur if the legal drinking age were lower. A companion organization called Choose Responsibility explicitly proposes “a series of changes that will allow 18–20 year-olds to purchase, possess and consume alcoholic beverages.” Does the age-21 drinking limit in the United States reduce alcohol consumption by young adults and its harms, or as the signatories of the Amethyst Initiative contend, is it “not working”? In this paper, we summarize a large and compelling body of empirical evidence which shows that one of the central claims of the signatories of the Amethyst Initiative is incorrect: setting the minimum legal drinking age at 21 clearly reduces alcohol consumption and its major harms. We use a panel fixed effects approach and a regression discontinuity approach to estimate the effects of the minimum legal drinking age on mortality, and we also discuss what is known about the relationship between the minimum legal drinking age and other adverse outcomes such as nonfatal injury and crime. We document the effect of the minimum legal drinking age on alcohol consumption and estimate the costs of adverse alcohol-related events on a per-drink basis. Finally we consider implications for the correct choice of a minimum legal drinking age.

scholarly journals Am I My Brother's Barkeeper? Sibling Spillovers in Alcohol Consumption at the Minimum Legal Drinking Age

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Schnorr ◽  
Eunju Lee
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Regression Discontinuity Design ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Sibling Pairs ◽  
Point Estimates ◽  
Drinking Age ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Minimum Legal Drinking Age ◽  
Rule Out

We use data on sibling pairs near the minimum legal drinking age to provide causal estimates of peer effects in alcohol consumption. Following prior work on other outcomes, we exploit the discontinuous increase in alcohol consumption of the older sibling at the legal drinking age in a regression discontinuity design. Our preferred point estimates imply that the number of binge drinking days reported by the younger sibling decreases by 27% of the mean at the cutoff. While our estimates are somewhat imprecise, we are consistently able to rule out positive estimates from the existing literature. Our research design provides estimates which are interpretable as the causal effect of the peer's alcohol consumption. This is in contrast to most prior work which instead identifies the causal effect of exposure to the peer. We explain how this distinction matters for policy.

scholarly journals What happens when the party moves home? The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. college student alcohol consumption as a function of legal drinking status using longitudinal data

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 772-774
Author(s):  
Nicole C Ryerson ◽  
Oliver W A Wilson ◽  
Alejandra Pena ◽  
Michele Duffy ◽  
Melissa Bopp
Keyword(s):  
College Student ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Living Situation ◽  
Drinking Age ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Many young adults in the United States (U.S.) moved from college accommodations to live with their parents/family during the Spring 2020 semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While alcohol consumption fluctuates during a typical semester among students, the impact of the sudden changes stemming from the pandemic on students’ alcohol consumption patterns is unclear. To examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on college student alcohol consumption while accounting for legal drinking age and living situation. Data were collected from students (n = 302) at a large, northeastern U.S. university at the beginning and end of the of the 2019 and 2020 Spring semesters via an online survey that assessed socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, race/ethnicity, living situation) and alcohol consumption using the daily drinking questionnaire. Data were analyzed using a 2 (cohort group: COVID-19 vs. normal) × 2 (age group: above 21 vs. under 21) × 2 (time: beginning vs. end of the semester) mixed model ANOVA. There was a significant three-way interaction. Students over the legal drinking age impacted by the pandemic demonstrated a drastic decrease in alcohol consumption by the end of the semester compared to those under normal circumstances. Change in living situation as a result of the pandemic drastically impacted the alcohol consumption patterns of students over the legal drinking age. Suggestions for future research on the continuing effects of the pandemic on students are discussed.

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