Liquid Assets? the Short-Run Liabilities of Binge Drinking

A-Tier
Journal: Economic Journal
Year: 2019
Volume: 129
Issue: 621
Pages: 2090-2136

Authors (2)

Marco Francesconi (University of Essex) Jonathan James (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

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

Abstract

We estimate the effect of binge drinking on road accidents, accident and emergency (A&E) attendances and arrests using a variety of unique English data and a two-sample instrumental variables estimation procedure. Drinking $10+$ units of alcohol in a single session increases road accidents by 18.6%, injury-related A&E attendances by 6.6% and arrests by 71%. The marginal increase from eight to $10+$ alcoholic units implies nearly 6,100 extra road accidents every year, 63,000 additional A&E attendances and 100,000 additional arrests. The externality per mile driven by a binge drinker is about five pence and the punishment that internalises this externality is equivalent to a fine of £22,800 per drunk driving arrest.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:econjl:v:129:y:2019:i:621:p:2090-2136.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25