Citation

Discussion Paper Details

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Title: The Cost of Binge Drinking

Author(s): Marco Francesconi and Jonathan James

Publication Date: February 2015

Keyword(s): Alcohol, Arrests, Externalities, Health and Road accidents

Programme Area(s): Labour Economics and Public Economics

Abstract: We estimate the effect of binge drinking on accident and emergency attendances, road accidents, arrests, and the number of police officers on duty using a variety of unique data from Britain and a two-sample minimum distance estimation procedure. Our estimates, which reveal sizeable effects of bingeing on all outcomes, are then used to monetize the short-term externalities of binge drinking. We find that these externalities are on average £4.9 billion per year ($7 billion), about £80 for each man, woman, and child living in the UK. The price that internalizes this externality is equivalent to an additional 9p per alcoholic unit, implying a 20% increase with respect to the current average price.

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Bibliographic Reference

Francesconi, M and James, J. 2015. 'The Cost of Binge Drinking'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=10412