Reducing Binge Drinking? The Effect of a Ban on Late-Night Off-Premise Alcohol Sales on Alcohol-Related Hospital Stays in Germany

Jan Marcus and Thomas Siedler

No 8763, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Excessive alcohol consumption among young people is a major public health concern. On March 1, 2010, the German state of Baden-Württemberg banned the sale of alcoholic beverages between 10pm and 5am at off-premise outlets (e.g., gas stations, kiosks, supermarkets). We use rich monthly administrative data from a 70 percent random sample of all hospitalizations during the years 2007-2011 in Germany in order to evaluate the short-term impact of this policy on alcohol-related hospitalizations. Applying difference-in-differences methods, we find that the policy change reduces alcohol-related hospitalizations among adolescents and young adults by about seven percent. There is also evidence of a decrease in the number of hospitalizations due to violent assault as a result of the ban.

Keywords: hospital diagnosis statistics; binge drinking; drinking hours; alcohol control policies; difference-in-differences; alcohol (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D04 I12 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 61 pages
Date: 2015-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (62)

Forthcoming - published in: Journal of Public Economics, 2015, 123, 55-77

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Related works:
Journal Article: Reducing binge drinking? The effect of a ban on late-night off-premise alcohol sales on alcohol-related hospital stays in Germany (2015)
Journal Article: Reducing binge drinking? The effect of a ban on late-night off-premise alcohol sales on alcohol-related hospital stays in Germany (2015)
Working Paper: Reducing Binge Drinking? The Effect of a Ban on Late-Night Off-Premise Alcohol Sales on Alcohol-Related Hospital Stays in Germany (2015)
Working Paper: Reducing binge drinking? The effect of a ban on late-night off-premise alcohol sales on alcohol-related hospital stays in Germany (2013)
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