The effect of schooling on problem drinking: evidence from Australian twins

C-Tier
Journal: Applied Economics
Year: 2013
Volume: 45
Issue: 12
Pages: 1583-1599

Authors (3)

N. Zubanov (Universität Konstanz) H. D. Webbink (not in RePEc) N. G. Martin (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.335 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 0.5x C-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We relate differences in problem drinking symptoms within pairs of identical twins to their respective differences in years of schooling. Isolating in this way the influences of family background and genes, we find that an increase in schooling attainment results in a significantly lower incidence of problem drinking for men. Thus, an extra year of schooling reduces the number of health problems caused by drinking by 0.14, and the probability of developing symptoms of Alcohol Dependence (AD) by 0.06. This negative link is robust to a variety of modifications to the identifying assumptions underlying our statistical analysis. Socio-economic implications of our findings are discussed.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:taf:applec:45:y:2013:i:12:p:1583-1599
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-29