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Too Young to Die: Regression Discontinuity of a Two-Part Minimum Legal Drinking Age Policy and the Causal Effect of Alcohol on Health

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Abstract
This study examines the impact of Sweden’s unique two-part Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) policy on alcohol consumption and health using regression discontinuity design. In Sweden on-licence purchasing of alcohol is legalised at 18 and off-licence purchasing is legalised later at 20 years of age. We find an immediate and significant 6% jump in participation and a larger increase in number of days drinking at age 18 of about 16% but no large jumps at age 20. No discernible increases in mortality at age 18 or 20 are found but hospital visits due to external causes do see an increase at both 18 and 20 years. Compared to previous findings for single MLDAs the alcohol impacts we find are smaller and the health impacts less severe. The findings suggest that a two-part MLDA can help young adults in their transition to unrestricted alcohol and help contain the negative health impacts that have been observed elsewhere.

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  • Heckley, Gawain & Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Jarl, Johan, 2018. "Too Young to Die: Regression Discontinuity of a Two-Part Minimum Legal Drinking Age Policy and the Causal Effect of Alcohol on Health," Working Papers 2018:4, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2018_004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Yörük, BarIs K. & Yörük, Ceren Ertan, 2011. "The impact of minimum legal drinking age laws on alcohol consumption, smoking, and marijuana use: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design using exact date of birth," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 740-752, July.
    3. Ceren Ertan Yörük & Barış Yörük, 2015. "Alcohol consumption and risky sexual behavior among young adults: evidence from minimum legal drinking age laws," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(1), pages 133-157, January.
    4. Christopher Carpenter & Carlos Dobkin, 2009. "The Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Mortality: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from the Minimum Drinking Age," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 164-182, January.
    5. Monica Deza, 2015. "The Effects of Alcohol on the Consumption of Hard Drugs: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 1997," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 419-438, April.
    6. Yörük, Barış K. & Yörük, Ceren Ertan, 2013. "The impact of minimum legal drinking age laws on alcohol consumption, smoking, and marijuana use revisited," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 477-479.
    7. Imbens, Guido W. & Lemieux, Thomas, 2008. "Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 615-635, February.
    8. Christopher Carpenter & Carlos Dobkin, 2011. "The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Public Health," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(2), pages 133-156, Spring.
    9. Jason M. Lindo & Peter Siminski & Oleg Yerokhin, 2016. "Breaking The Link Between Legal Access To Alcohol And Motor Vehicle Accidents: Evidence From New South Wales," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(7), pages 908-928, July.
    10. McCrary, Justin, 2008. "Manipulation of the running variable in the regression discontinuity design: A density test," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 698-714, February.
    11. Hahn, Jinyong & Todd, Petra & Van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 2001. "Identification and Estimation of Treatment Effects with a Regression-Discontinuity Design," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(1), pages 201-209, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kamalow, Raffael & Siedler, Thomas, 2019. "The Effects of Stepwise Minimum Legal Drinking Age Legislation on Mortality: Evidence from Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 12456, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Ahammer, Alexander & Bauernschuster, Stefan & Halla, Martin & Lachenmaier, Hannah, 2022. "Minimum legal drinking age and the social gradient in binge drinking," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Dehos, Fabian T., 2022. "Underage access to alcohol and its impact on teenage drinking and crime," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    4. Ellegård, Lina Maria & Kjellsson, Gustav & Mattisson, Linn, 2021. "An App Call a Day Keeps the Patient Away? Substitution of Online and In-Person Doctor Consultations Among Young Adults," Working Papers in Economics 808, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics, revised May 2022.
    5. Dehos, Fabian, 2020. "Legal access to alcohol and its impact on drinking and crime," Ruhr Economic Papers 884, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Alcohol consumption; regression discontinuity; minimum legal drinking age;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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