Did Legalization of Sunday Alcohol Sales Increase Crime in the United States? Evidence From Seven States

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of the legalization of Sunday alcohol sales on several different types of criminal activity in the United States. Method: The 2000-2010 data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for seven states (n = 1,746,249) and difference-indifferences type models are used to estimate the effect of the legalization of Sunday alcohol sales on different types of criminal activity. Results: States that legalized Sunday sales of alcohol experienced up to a 16% to 23% increase in the total number of violent and property crimes committed on Sundays (p < .01). However, the aggregate impact of this policy change on crimes committed on all days of the week is not significant because of either positive or statistically insignificant spillover effects of the repeal of Sunday alcohol sales bans on crimes committed on Mondays through Saturdays. These results are robust under alternative model specifications. Conclusions: We fi nd evidence that the negative effects of legalizing Sunday alcohol sales on criminal activity are day specific, and the overall crime trends are not affected by this policy change. These fi ndings are particularly important given the ongoing public policy debates about the relevancy of the restrictions on Sunday sales of alcohol at off-premise locations.

Associations between state‐level general population alcohol policies and drinking outcomes among women of reproductive age: Results from 1984 to 2020 National Alcohol Surveys

“…Overall, findings support that Sunday off-premise liquor sales restrictions and 0.05-0.08 BAC limits for driving are related to less overall and heavy drinking (number of ≥5 drink days and ≥8 drink days) in this population. Prior studies corroborate that looser restrictions on Sunday sales are associated with worse drinking and other health outcomes in both the United States and Canada (Carpenter & Eisenberg, 2009;McMillan et al, 2007;McMillan & Lapham, 2006;Yörük, 2014;Yörük & Lee, 2018). Since at least four US states (Arkansas, Georgia, Ohio, and South Carolina) b Any government control of wine or spirits sales at the wholesale or retail level.…”

“…Though Sunday alcohol sales have not been studied as much alcohol taxes or government control of sales, the evidence supports that removing restrictions on Sunday sales is related to worse public health outcomes, for example, more drinking (Carpenter & Eisenberg, 2009;Yörük, 2014), crime (Yörük & Lee, 2018), and traffic accidents (McMillan et al, 2007;McMillan & Lapham, 2006).…”

“…Though Sunday alcohol sales have not been studied as much alcohol taxes or government control of sales, the evidence supports that removing restrictions on Sunday sales is related to worse public health outcomes, for example, more drinking (Carpenter & Eisenberg, 2009; Yörük, 2014), crime (Yörük & Lee, 2018), and traffic accidents (McMillan et al, 2007; McMillan & Lapham, 2006). In the United States, removing state‐level Sunday sales restrictions was associated with increased state‐level per capita consumption in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico, but not in Massachusetts and Rhode Island (Yörük, 2014), and in Canada, province‐level Sunday sales are associated with a significant increase in drinking on Sundays (Carpenter & Eisenberg, 2009).…”

Impulsive Consumption and Financial Well-Being: Evidence from an Increase in the Availability of Alcohol

“…(3) 20,702,518 20,702,518 11,346,586 9,355,932 23,409,472 20,702,518 20,702,518 11,346,586 9,355,932 23,409 Our data set contains the exact date of the crime; 25 therefore, we can test whether crimes increased more on Saturdays relative to the other days of the week in the treated counties and in the post-period. This detailed identification strategy is taken from Yörük and Lee (2018), who find an increase in crime rates in the U.S. on Sundays (but not on other days)…”

Impulsive Consumption and Financial Wellbeing: Evidence from an Increase in the Availability of Alcohol

“…Columns (1) and (6) show the regression: y (2)-(4) and (7)-(9) show the regression: y (5) and (10) 20,702,518 20,702,518 11,346,586 9,355,932 23,409,472 20,702,518 20,702,518 11,346,586 9,355,932 Our data set contains the exact date of the crime; 25 therefore, we can test whether crimes increased more on Saturdays relative to the other days of the week in the treated counties and in the post-period. This detailed identification strategy is taken from Yörük and Lee (2018), who find an increase in crime rates in the U.S. on Sundays (but not on other days) following the legalization of Sunday alcohol sales. For this purpose, we construct a data set at the daily frequency and run Regression (3).…”