Alcohol Prices and Mortality Due to Liver Cirrhosis

Abstract

This study estimates a reduced-form regression model for mortality rates due to alcoholic liver diseases, with alcohol prices and income as explanatory variables. Panel data cover the years 2000-2010 for 21 member countries of the European Union. In the reduced form, prices affect mortality rates indirectly through the demand for alcohol, while income has potential direct and indirect effects. Country and time fixed effects are used to control for other factors that influence alcohol consumption and mortality. Special attention is paid to outliers in the data, and final results are based on the MS-estimator for robust regressions. Regression results for alcohol prices and income are sensitive to adjustments for stationary data and downweighting of outliers and other influential data points. Final results indicate that alcohol prices do not affect mortality rates due to chronic liver diseases. Empirical results in the study do not lend support to broad price-based approaches to alcohol policy.

Economic Evidence Regarding Alcohol Price Elasticities and Price Responses by Heavy Drinkers, Binge Drinkers, and Alcohol-Related Harms: Summary of Results for Meta-Analysis, Systematic Reviews, and Natural Experiments in Alcohol Policy

“…Only two of 19 heavydrinking studies find a statistically significant and substantial negative price response, and only two of nine mortality studies find a negative price response. 15 In Nelson, 16 I focus on genderrelated differences in price responses. Fifteen survey studies are reviewed for drinking and heavy-drinking by adults and eight studies are reviewed for young adults, ages 18-26 years.…”