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Few studies explore the linkages between health behaviors and macroeconomic outcomes. This study uses 1971-2007 state-level data from the United States to estimate the impact of beer consumption on economic growth. We document that beer consumption has negative effects on economic growth measures once the endogeneity of beer consumption is addressed. Our estimates are robust to a range of specification checks. These findings run parallel to a large body of literature documenting substantial social and economic costs stemming from alcohol use. (JEL I1, 04), What drug provides Americans with the greatest pleasure and the greatest pain? The answer, hands down, is alcohol. The pain comes not only from drunk driving and lost lives but [...]

Background: This study examines remuneration spending by drug-using participants in residential drug abuse research. Methods: Ninety-four adult males who participated in residential, non-treatment drug abuse research studies earned remuneration based on length of stay and specific research procedures. Remuneration could be in cash after discharge or for in-kind purchases and bill payments. Spending of remuneration was extracted from charts and evaluated with multivariate analyses. Results: Participants received average remuneration of $1,454, taking 59% in cash. Other categories included cigarettes (60.6% of subjects), toiletries (60.6%), clothing (54.3%), and housing (52.1%). Primary drug of abuse, total remuneration, monthly income, length of stay on the residential research unit, age, and education were significantly associated with in-kind remuneration choices. Less total remuneration, intoxication in the month prior to study, higher IQ, and non-white race were associated with taking more in cash. Conclusion: Residential drug abuse research participants prefer cash to in-kind research remuneration, and their choices reflected drug use and economic status. Keywords: Drug abuse, in-kind, motivation, payment, research, subjects, 1. INTRODUCTION Payment of subjects in clinical research studies is a common, albeit sometimes controversial, practice (1-7). A recent survey of 91 researchers conducting clinical studies with drug or alcohol [...]

Does economics justify restricting alcohol consumption? A new line of research concludes that alcohol involves significant social costs and that various restrictions would lead to net social gains. This article focuses on Levy and Miller (1995), who conduct a cost-benefit analysis of serving-intoxicated-patron laws. We administer a survey of taverns in Washtenaw County, Michigan, to investigate the plausibility of some of Levy and Miller's claims. We find a number of problems with their economic discussion: in addition to a number of problematic assumptions, they count private costs as social costs and completely ignore consumer and producer surplus associated with alcohol. We find their assumptions bias the results in favor of the restrictions. Despite their popularity in public policy debates, these economic justifications for restricting alcohol are dubious.

Objective: This article describes the methodology used in estimating the mean cost per patient of the interventions delivered in COMBINE, a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing pharmacotherapies and behavioral interventions for outpatient treatment of alcohol dependence. Method: Our methodology identifies a broad list of nonresearch activities necessary to implement the COMBINE interventions in standard clinical practice. For each activity, we include the time costs of clinical assessments and interventions by staff, the cost of space, laboratory charges and the cost of medical supplies. We also estimate the patients' time used for each of these activities. Results: We present the estimated cost per activity for 15 intake assessments plus the Medical Management (MM) and Combined Behavioral Intervention (CBI) sessions for 9 of the 11 COMBINE sites. Labor costs represent the bulk of the total cost for all activities. The Form 90 AIR/ED is the most expensive intake activity both in terms of labor and space costs. The CBI session is more expensive than the MM session. Conclusions: Our methodology estimates the cost to treatment providers and to patients of implementing the COMBINE intervention in standard practice. Compared with previous methods, the prospective design of our methodology allows for higher quality data, and the detailed activity costing helps identify key cost drivers. Future analyses will present actual COMBINE intervention cost estimates based on trial data. Although this cost study is specific to the COMBINE interventions, the concepts, instruments and methods used here can be applied to any RCT., ALCOHOL AND DRUG abuse impose significant costs on society. In 1992, the economic cost of alcohol and drug abuse was estimated to be $246 billion (Harwood et al., 1998). The [...]

An econometric model used to analyze the impact of the price of alcoholic beverages on alcohol consumption is discussed. Additional information on the social and health consequences related to alcoholism is included.

The purpose of this paper is to test Becker and Murphy's (1988) rational addiction model on 35 years of time series data on alcohol consumption in each of the four Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The empirical relevance of rational addiction theory is assessed by examining the influence of past and future consumption and contemporaneous prices on current consumption. More precisely, the rational addiction model maintains that past and future consumption should have a positive effect and that current price should have the conventional negative effect on consumption. In addition, some parameter restrictions (regarding past and future prices and consumption) implied by rational addiction are tested. Finally, the own-price elasticities from rational addiction specifications are compared to those obtained from more conventional demand specifications which ignore addiction. Ignoring addiction may provide misleading estimates of the price sensitivity of alcohol consumption and this may, in turn, lead to underestimation of the effects of major changes in price policy such as those currently taking place in the Nordic countries.

The use of government prohibitions to address economic and social problems related to substance abuse is widespread, but this policy is surprisingly difficult to justify on economic grounds. Standard economic models suggest that prohibitions can have substantial undesirable consequences and that they may fail to accomplish their primary objective: reduced consumption of the prohibited commodity. Economic reasoning also suggests that moderate sin taxes on the commodity in question, possibly combined with various types of regulation, are likely to reduce consumption more effectively than prohibition while avoiding many of the negative consequences of prohibitions. Evidence from the U.S. experience with the prohibition of alcohol, 1920-33, is consistent with the predictions of the economic analysis of prohibition: neither alcohol consumption nor alcohol prices changed substantially, while violent crime increased.

Men who consume alcohol have higher earnings compared to those who do not by as much as 7%. A sample taken from the 1991 and 1992 National Household Surveys of Drug Abuse also showed that the projected alcohol use premium of women is almost half as large as for men. Findings also revealed that alcohol usage is not correlated with low earnings. Alcohol usage is not found to be correlated with lower wages even at significant levels of intake.

The Perinatal Needs Assessment (PNA) conducted among American Indian women reveals widespread use of alcohol and psychoactives such as marijuana and metamphetamines. The PNA also revealed more active use by rural women compared to those in urban areas and, fortunately, decreased use of same substances by pregnant women but not by those in the early stages of pregnancy. The same study indicated that the women prioritized economic concerns over getting treatment for alcohol and substance abuse and that few correlated their low economic status to such vices.

Individuals who are addicted to alcohol are likely to become unemployed because of a deterioration in their productivity. This finding is true for both males and females. It is also based on the outcome of the habit which include accidents, arrest and confiscation of a driver's license. On the other hand, the theory that unemployment causes problem drinking is not true although it may lead to increased drinking, which is different from alcohol addiction. Nevertheless, there are studies attesting to the beneficial effects on labor productivity of moderate consumption of alcohol.

Criticisms by Young of a study on the link between advertising bans and alcohol abuse lack insight, and are flawed and inconsistent, with an inappropriate selection of dependent variables. Young would have been on stronger ground had he supplied consistent regression models prior to drawing conculsions on the link between advertising bans and abuse of alcohol.

A study by Saffer which indicates a link between advertising bans and alcohol consumption, with a fall in alcohol-related problems, contains various flaws. These include bans being introduced by nations which already have low levels of alcohol consumption, which gives an exaggerated view of the correlation, and serial correlation corrections, or controlling for differences in culture, further undermine the link. By looking at spirit drinks, beer and wine, there are even indications of a correlation between bans and a rise in alcohol consumption.

This article reports on an empirical analysis of the relationships between alcoholism and income and working. We show that the relationships between alcoholism and labor market success have important age or life-cycle dimensions. We present evidence that alcoholism may affect income more by restricting labor market participation than by affecting the wages of workers. Finally, we demonstrate that the effects of alcoholism on earnings depend on the extent to which one controls for other covariates associated with alcoholism; as such, we suggest that there may be important indirect as well as direct effects of alcoholism on labor market success.

External and private costs of alcohol abuse were differentiated and the external costs of alcohol abuse was estimated. External costs of alcohol abuse are those which result from injury and death inflicted on third-party victims due to alcohol use. These are direct health care costs such as hospital visits and alcohol specialty hospitals as well as indirect care costs from motor vehicle crashes, fires, firearms use and drownings. Otherrelated costs are crime-related and those from incarceration for drunk driving.The external costs of alcohol abuse for 1985 was estimated at $14 billion.

A multivariate time series analysis was used to study the role of social and economic variables on per capita consumption of alcohol between 1950 and 1986. Variables included family income, population age structure, marital stability, female employment, price of alcohol and lifestyle. Results indicate social variables had more effect than economic variables. Consumption was influenced by population age, daily routine, marital stability and female employment.

Alcohol-related disorders cost the Nation billions of dollars each year. In 1985 alone, the cost of alcohol abuse, including costs from hospitalization and institutionalization, motor vehicle crashes, and crime, amounted […]

Alcoholism treatment (AL) changes usage and/or spending on non-alcoholism treatment (NA). Yet there has been little economic analysis of the effect of AL on individuals' uses of health services and total health care costs. Our model yields both cost and usage impacts. A 1% increase in short-term AL events implies a 1.9% increase in costs; subsequent AL increases costs by .6%. A 1% increase in short-term NA events implies a 1.3% increase in costs; subsequent NA increases costs by 1.5%. Initiation of AL directly lowers NA, but indirectly increases NA usage (and hence, costs) in subsequent treatment. Overall, a 10% increase in AL leads to a 9.2% increase in health care costs.

Estimates of Economic Costs of Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Mental Illness, 1985 and 1988 Synopsis The high prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse and mental illness imposes a substantial […]