Lockdown drinking: The sobering effect of price controls in a pandemic

Farasat A. S. Bokhari; Ratula Chakraborty; Paul W. Dobson; Marcello Morciano

doi:10.1111/ecin.13237

Lockdown drinking: The sobering effect of price controls in a pandemic

Farasat A. S. Bokhari, Ratula Chakraborty, Paul W. Dobson, Marcello Morciano

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Lockdown restrictions reduce the spread of COVID-19 but disrupt livelihoods and lifestyles that can induce harmful behavior changes, including problematic lockdown drinking fueled by cheap alcohol. Exploiting differences amongst the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, we use triple difference analysis on alcohol retail sales to examine the efficacy of minimum unit pricing as a price control device to help curb excessive consumption in a pandemic setting. We find the policy is remarkably effective and well-targeted in reducing demand for cheap alcohol, with minimal spillover effects, and consumers overall buying and spending less.

Original language	English
Journal	Economic Inquiry
Early online date	5 Jun 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.13237
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 5 Jun 2024

Keywords

Pandemic
Lockdown
Price control
Minimum Unit Pricing
Alcohol
Excessive consumption
alcohol
excessive consumption
minimum unit pricing
lockdown
price control
pandemic

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1111/ecin.13237Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Lockdown_Drinking_Economic_Inquiry_accepted_version_25_4_2024Accepted author manuscript, 1.01 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

@article{e78f957e0c16442b92ee4ea39212cec8,

title = "Lockdown drinking: The sobering effect of price controls in a pandemic",

abstract = "Lockdown restrictions reduce the spread of COVID-19 but disrupt livelihoods and lifestyles that can induce harmful behavior changes, including problematic lockdown drinking fueled by cheap alcohol. Exploiting differences amongst the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, we use triple difference analysis on alcohol retail sales to examine the efficacy of minimum unit pricing as a price control device to help curb excessive consumption in a pandemic setting. We find the policy is remarkably effective and well-targeted in reducing demand for cheap alcohol, with minimal spillover effects, and consumers overall buying and spending less.",

keywords = "Pandemic, Lockdown, Price control, Minimum Unit Pricing, Alcohol, Excessive consumption, alcohol, excessive consumption, minimum unit pricing, lockdown, price control, pandemic",

author = "Bokhari, {Farasat A. S.} and Ratula Chakraborty and Dobson, {Paul W.} and Marcello Morciano",

note = "DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT: Data and code used in this paper are available via the replication package available at https://doi.org/10.3886/E199482V1.",

year = "2024",

month = jun,

day = "5",

doi = "10.1111/ecin.13237",

language = "English",

journal = "Economic Inquiry",

issn = "0095-2583",

publisher = "Wiley",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Lockdown drinking: The sobering effect of price controls in a pandemic

AU - Bokhari, Farasat A. S.

AU - Chakraborty, Ratula

AU - Dobson, Paul W.

AU - Morciano, Marcello

N1 - DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT: Data and code used in this paper are available via the replication package available at https://doi.org/10.3886/E199482V1.

PY - 2024/6/5

Y1 - 2024/6/5

N2 - Lockdown restrictions reduce the spread of COVID-19 but disrupt livelihoods and lifestyles that can induce harmful behavior changes, including problematic lockdown drinking fueled by cheap alcohol. Exploiting differences amongst the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, we use triple difference analysis on alcohol retail sales to examine the efficacy of minimum unit pricing as a price control device to help curb excessive consumption in a pandemic setting. We find the policy is remarkably effective and well-targeted in reducing demand for cheap alcohol, with minimal spillover effects, and consumers overall buying and spending less.

AB - Lockdown restrictions reduce the spread of COVID-19 but disrupt livelihoods and lifestyles that can induce harmful behavior changes, including problematic lockdown drinking fueled by cheap alcohol. Exploiting differences amongst the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, we use triple difference analysis on alcohol retail sales to examine the efficacy of minimum unit pricing as a price control device to help curb excessive consumption in a pandemic setting. We find the policy is remarkably effective and well-targeted in reducing demand for cheap alcohol, with minimal spillover effects, and consumers overall buying and spending less.

KW - Pandemic

KW - Lockdown

KW - Price control

KW - Minimum Unit Pricing

KW - Alcohol

KW - Excessive consumption

KW - alcohol

KW - excessive consumption

KW - minimum unit pricing

KW - lockdown

KW - price control

KW - pandemic

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85195079013&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/ecin.13237

DO - 10.1111/ecin.13237

M3 - Article

JO - Economic Inquiry

JF - Economic Inquiry

SN - 0095-2583

ER -

Lockdown drinking: The sobering effect of price controls in a pandemic

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

ECIN Replication Package for "Lockdown drinking: The sobering effect of price controls in a pandemic"

Cite this

Lockdown drinking: The sobering effect of price controls in a pandemic

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Datasets

ECIN Replication Package for "Lockdown drinking: The sobering effect of price controls in a pandemic"

Cite this