Alcohol – Excessive Consumption: Increasing Alcohol Taxes

Effectiveness Review

Analytic Framework [PDF - 150 kB
When starting an effectiveness review, the systematic review team develops an analytic framework. The analytic framework illustrates how the intervention approach is thought to affect public health. It guides the search for evidence and may be used to summarize the evidence collected. The analytic framework often includes intermediate outcomes, potential effect modifiers, potential harms, and potential additional benefits.

Effectiveness Review

No content is available for this section.

Economic Review

No content is available for this section.

The number of studies and publications do not always correspond (e.g., a publication may include several studies or one study may be explained in several publications).

Effectiveness Review

Adrian M, Ferguson BS, Her M. Can alcohol price policies be used to reduce drunk driving? Evidence from Canada. Subst Use Misuse 2001;36(13):1923–57.

Adrian M, Ferguson BS. Demand for domestic and imported alcohol in Canada. Appl Econ 1987;19(4):531–40.

Baltagi BH, Goel RK. Quasi-experimental price elasticity of liquor demand in the U.S.: 1960–83. Am J Agric Econ 1990;72(2):451–4.

Beard TR, Gant PA, Saba RP. Border-crossing sales, tax avoidance, and state tax policies: an application to alcohol. South Econ J 1997;64(1):293–306.

Blake D, Nied A. The demand for alcohol in the United Kingdom. Appl Econ 1997;29:1655–72.

Bourgeois JC, Barnes JG. Does advertising increase alcohol consumption? J Advert Res 1979;19(4):19–29.

Chaloupka FJ, Saffer H, Grossman M. Alcohol-control policies and motor-vehicle fatalities. J Legal Stud 1993;22:161–86.

Chaloupka FJ, Wechsler H. Binge drinking in college: the impact of price, availability, and alcohol control policies. Contemp Econ Policy 1996;14(4):112–24.

Chesson H, Harrison P, Kassler WJ. Sex under the influence: the effect of alcohol policy on sexually transmitted disease rates in the U.S. J Law Econ 2000;43:215–37.

Clements KW, Selvanathan S. The economic determinants of alcohol consumption. Aust J Agric Resour Econ 1991;35(2):209–31.

Coate D, Grossman M. Effects of alcoholic beverage prices and legal drinking ages on youth alcohol use. J Law Econ 1988;31(1):145–71.

Cook PJ, Moore MJ. Economic perspectives on reducing alcohol-related violence. Alcohol and interpersonal violence: fostering multidisciplinary perspectives. NIAAA Research Monograph 24. Rockville MD: NIAAA, 1993:193–212.

Cook PJ, Moore MJ. This tax’s for you: the case for higher beer taxes. Natl Tax J 1994;47(3):559–73.

Cook PJ, Ostermann J, Sloan FA. Are alcohol excise taxes good for us? Short- and long-term effects on mortality rates. Working Paper No. 11138. Cambridge (MA): National Bureau of Economic Research, 2005.

Cook PJ, Tauchen G. The effect of liquor taxes on heavy drinking. Bell J Econ 1982;13(2):379–90.

Cook PJ. The effect of liquor taxes on drinking, cirrhosis, and auto accidents. In: Moore MH, Gerstein D, eds. Alcohol and public policy: beyond the shadow of prohibition. Washington (DC): National Academies Press, 1981:255–85.

Decker SL, Schwartz AE. Cigarettes and alcohol: substitutes or complements. Working Paper No. 7535. Cambridge (MA):National Bureau of Economic Research, 2000.

Dee TS. State alcohol policies, teen drinking and traffıc fatalities. J Public Econ 1999;72(2):289–315.

Duffy M. Advertising and the inter-product distribution of demand. Eur Econ Rev 1987;31:1051–70.

Duffy M. Influence of prices, consumer incomes, and advertising upon the demand for alcoholic drink in the United Kingdom: an econometric study. Alcohol 1981;16(4):200–8.

Duffy M. The demand for alcoholic drink in the United Kingdom. Appl Econ 1983;15(1):125–40.

Evans WN, Neville D, Graham JD. General deterrence of drunk driving: evaluation of recent American policies. Risk Anal 1991;11:279–89.

Farrell S, Manning WG, Finch MD. Alcohol dependence and the price of alcoholic beverages. J Health Econ 2003;22(1):117–47.

Gius MP. The effect of taxes on alcoholic consumption: an individual level of analysis with a correction for aggregate public policy variables. Penn Econ Rev 2002;11(1):76–93.

Goel RK, Morey MJ. The interdependence of cigarette and liquor demand. South Econ J 1995;62(2):451–9.

Gray D, Chikritzhs T, Stockwell T. The Northern Territory’s cask wine levy: health and taxation policy implications. Aust N Z J Public Health 1999;23(6):651–3.

Grossman M, Chaloupka FJ, Sirtalan I. An empirical analysis of alcohol addiction: results from the monitoring the future panels. Econ Inq 1998;36(1):39–48.

Grossman M, Coate D, Arluck GM. Price sensitivity of alcoholic beverages in the U.S.: youth alcohol consumption. In: Holder H, ed. Control issues in alcohol abuse prevention: strategies for states and communities. Greenwich CT: JAI Press, 1987;169–98.

Gruenewald PJ, Madden P, Janes K. Alcohol availability and the formal power and resources of state alcohol beverage control agencies. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1992;16(3):591–7.

Heeb J-L, Gmel G, Zurbrugg C, Kuo M, Rehm J. Changes in alcohol consumption following a reduction in the price of spirits: a natural experiment in Switzerland. Addiction 2003;98(10):1433–46.

Heien D, Pompelli G. Stress, ethnic, and distribution factors in a dichotomous response model of alcohol abuse. J Stud Alcohol 1987;48(5):450–5.

Heien DM, Pompelli G. The demand for alcoholic beverages: economic and demographic effects. South Econ J 1989;55(3):759–70.

Hoadley JF, Fuchs BC, Holder HD. The effect of alcohol beverage restriction on consumption: a 25-year longitudinal analysis. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 1984;10(3):375–401.

Hogarty TF, Elzinga KG. The demand for beer. Rev Econ Stat 1972;54(2):195–8.

Johnson JA, Oksanen EH, Veall MR, Fretz D. Short-run and long-run elasticities for Canadian consumption of alcoholic beverages: an error-correction mechanism/cointegration approach. Rev Econ Stat 1992;74(1):64–74.

Johnson JA, Oksanen EH. Socioeconomic determinants of the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Appl Econ 1974;6(4):293–301.

Jones AM.Asystems approach to the demand for alcohol and tobacco. Bull Econ Res 1989;41(2):85–101.

Kenkel DS. Drinking, driving, and deterrence: the effectiveness and social costs of alternative policies. J Law Econ 1993;36:877–911.

Kenkel DS. New estimates of the optimal tax on alcohol. Econ Inq 1996;34(2):296–319.

Kuo M, Heeb JL, Gmel G, Rehm J. Does price matter? The effect of decreased price on spirits consumption in Switzerland. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2003;27(4):720–5.

Labys W. An international comparison of price and income elasticities for wine consumption. Aust J Agric Resour Econ 1976;20(1):33–6.

Laixuthai A, Chaloupka FJ. Youth alcohol use and public policy. Contemp Policy Issues 1993;11(4):70–81.

Lee B, Tremblay VJ. Advertising and the US market demand for beer. Appl Econ 1992;24(1):69–76.

Leskinen E, Terasvirta T. Forecasting the consumption of alcoholic beverages in Finland. Eur Econ Rev 1976;8:349–69.

Levy D, Sheflin N. New evidence on controlling alcohol use through price. J Stud Alcohol 1983;44(6):929–37.

Manning WG, Blumberg L, Moulton LH. The demand for alcohol: the differential response to price. J Health Econ 1995;14(2):123–48.

Markowitz S, Grossman M. Alcohol regulation and domestic violence towards children. Contemp Econ Policy 1998;16(3):309–20.

Markowitz S, Grossman M. The effects of beer taxes on physical child abuse. J Health Econ 2000;19:271– 82.

Mast BD, Benson BL, Rasmussen DW. Beer taxation and alcohol-related traffıc fatalities. South Econ J 1999;66(2):214–49.

Mayo JR.Anestimate of U.S. demand for alcoholic beverages, 1986 –92. Penn Econ Rev 2000;9(1):1–4.

Mullahy J, Sindelar JL. Do drinkers know when to say when? An empirical analysis of drunk driving. Econ Inq 1994;32(3):383–94.

Nelson J, Moran J. Advertising and US alcohol beverage system demand: system-wide estimates. Appl Econ 1995;12:1225–36.

Nelson J. Economic and demographic factors in U.S. alcohol demand: a growth-accounting analysis. Empir Econ 1997;22:83–102.

Nelson J. State monopolies and alcoholic beverage consumption. J Regul Econ 1990;2:83–98.

Ornstein SI, Hanssens DM. Alcohol control laws and the consumption of distilled spirits and beer. J Consum Res 1985;12(2):200–13.

Pacula RL. Does increasing the beer tax reduce marijuana consumption? J Health Econ 1998;17:557–85.

Ponicki W, Holder HD, Gruenewald PRA. Altering alcohol price by ethanol content: results from a Swedish tax policy in 1992. Addiction 1997;92(7):859–70.

Ruhm CJ. Alcohol policies and highway vehicle fatalities. J Health Econ 1996;15:435–54.

Ruhm CJ. Economic conditions and alcohol problems. J Health Econ 1995;14:583–603.

Rush B, Steinberg M, Brook R. Relationships among alcohol availability, alcohol consumption and alcohol-related damage in the province of Ontario and the State of Michigan. Adv Alcohol Subst Abuse 1986;5(4):33–45.

Saffer H, Grossman M. Drinking age laws and highway mortality rates: cause and effect. Econ Inq 1987;25(3):403–17.

Selvanathan EA. Alcohol consumption in the UK, 1955–85: a system-wide analysis. Appl Econ 1988;20(2):1071–86.

Simon JL. Price elasticity of liquor in the US and a simple method of determination. Econometrica 1966;34(1):193–205.

Sloan FA, Reilly BA, Schenzler C. Effects of prices, civil and criminal sanctions, and law enforcement on alcohol-related mortality. J Stud Alcohol 1994;55:454–65.

Speer PW, Gorman DM, Labouvie EW, Ontkush MJ. Violent crime and alcohol availability: relationships in an urban community. J Public Health Policy 1998;19(3):303–18.

Treno AJ, Parker RN, Holder HD. Understanding U.S. alcohol consumption with social and economic factors: a multivariate time series analysis, 1950 –1986. J Stud Alcohol 1993;54:146–56.

Uri ND. The demand for beverages and interbeverage substitution in the U.S. Bull Econ Res 1986;38(1):77–85.

Wette HC, Zhang JF, Berg RJ, Casswell S. Effect of prices on alcohol consumption in New Zealand 1983–1991. Drug Alcohol Rev 1993;12(2):151–8.

Whetten-Goldstein K, Sloan FA, Stout E, Liang L. Civil liability, criminal law, and other policies and alcohol-related motor vehicle fatalities in the U.S.: 1984 –1995. Accid Anal Prev 2000;32:723–33.

Wilkinson JT. Reducing drunken driving: which policies are most effective? South Econ J 1987;54:322–34.

Yen ST. Cross-section estimation of US demand for alcoholic beverage. Appl Econ 1994;26(4):381–92.

Young C, Bielinska-Kwapisz A. Alcohol consumption, beverage prices and measurement error. J Stud Alcohol 2003;64:235–8.

Zhang JF, Casswell S. The effects of real price and a change in the distribution system on alcohol consumption. Drug Alcohol Rev 1999;18:371–8.

Economic Review

Chisolm D, Rehm J, Van Omeren M, et al. Reducing the global burden of hazardous alcohol use: a comparative cost-effectiveness analysis. J Stud Alcohol 2004;65:782–93.

Miller TR, Levy, DT. Cost-outcome analysis in injury prevention and control: eighty-four recent estimates for the U.S. Med Care 2000;38(6):562–82.

CDC’s High-Impact in 5 years initiative recommends increasing the unit price of alcohol based on evidence the strategy reduces excessive alcohol consumption and related harms within five years and has economic value.

The following outlines the search strategy used for these reviews of interventions to prevent excessive alcohol consumption: Dram Shop Liability; Increasing Alcohol Taxes; Maintaining Limits on Days of Sale; Maintaining Limits on Hours of Sale; Overservice Law Enforcement Initiatives; Regulation of Alcohol Outlet Density; Enhanced Enforcement of Laws Prohibiting Sales to Minors. 

The following databases were searched from their inception up to October 2007 to identify studies assessing the impact of changes for all interventions included in the Community Guide series of alcohol reviews: Econlit, PsycInfo, Sociology Abstracts, Medline, Embase, and EtOH (not available after 2003). The search yielded 6442 articles, books, and conference abstracts, of which 5645 were unique.

1) Alcohol Keywords

• (Alcoholic drink$ OR alcoholic beverage* OR alcohol OR liquor OR beer OR wine OR spirits OR drunk OR intoxicat$ OR alcoholic binge* OR binge drinking)

2) Keywords for interventions of interest (assume ORs between bullets) {Target intervention}

• ((day$ or hour$ or sale$) and (limit$ or sale$ or extend$ or restrict$ or trading)) {Restrictions on days and hours of sale}
  • (day OR hour OR “time of day” OR time) AND (sale* OR trading OR commerce) AND (limit OR restrict OR regulate)
• (tax or taxes or taxation or cost or costs$ or prices or price) {Increased alcohol taxes}
  • (tax*) AND (increase OR raise)
• (social and (host$ or liability or provider$ or provision)) {Social host liability}
  • (“social host” OR provider* OR provision) AND (liability OR responsibility)
• ((underage or minor or youth or young or teenage$) and licens$ and (enforcement or fee$ or driver$)) {License suspension/revocation for non-MV alcohol violations among underage drinkers}
  • (underage OR minor OR youth OR adolescent OR teen*) AND (“drivers license” OR) AND (suspension OR revocation OR revoke) AND (“non-mv alcohol violation” OR (“alcohol violation” NOT (driving OR “motor vehicle”))
• (privatiz$ or monopol$ or ((sale$ or distribut$ or industry) and (ban$ or strike$ or prohibition))) {Government monopolies on off-premise outlets}
  • (“off-premise”) AND (“government monopoly” OR government OR privatiz* OR monopoly) AND (sale* OR distribut* OR industry)
• (minimum age or drinking age or purchase age or legal age or MDA or MLDA or ((teen$ or adolescen$ or young or college$ or youth$ or student$ or underage$ or minor$) and (enforce$ or deterrence$ or avail$ or access$ or crackdown or ID or identification or compliance))) {Enhanced enforcement of laws prohibiting possession or consumption of alcohol by minors}
  • (underage OR minor OR youth OR adolescent OR teen*) AND (possess* OR consum* OR access*) AND (law* OR regulat* OR enforce* OR deter* OR crackdown OR complia*) AND (“minimum age” OR “drinking age” OR “purchase age” OR “legal age” OR “MDA” OR “MLDA”)
• (advertis$ or marketing or promotion$ or internet or product placement or billboard$ or sponsorship) {Limiting advertising exposure}
  • (advertis* OR market* OR promotion* OR internet OR www OR World Wide Web OR “product placement” OR billboard* OR sponsor* OR target*) AND (underage OR minor OR youth OR adolescent OR teen*) AND (limit OR reduc* OR restrict* OR regulat*)
• (compliance check$ or sting$ or decoy$ or purchase attempt or dram shop) {Enhanced enforcement of laws prohibiting provision of alcohol to minors}
  • (“dram shop” OR “on-premise” OR provider) AND (“compliance check*” OR “purchase attempt*” OR enforce*) AND (law* OR regulat* OR prohibit*) AND (underage OR minor OR youth OR adolescent OR teen*)
• (((manager$ or management or serv$ or clerk$ or seller$) and (liabilit$ or practice$ or training or beverage$)) or liquor liability) {Responsible beverage server programs/Dram shop liability}
  • (provider OR manage* OR serv* OR “dram shop” OR “on-premise” OR sale*) AND ((liabil* OR responsib*) OR (“responsible beverage server program*” OR training OR program*)
• (gas station or self service or ((outlet$ or store$ or bar or bars or establishment) and (density or densities or on-sale or off-sale or type or types or number$ or location$ or concentration or zoning))) {Outlet density and zoning restrictions}
  • (“gas station” OR store OR bar* OR establishment* OR sale*) AND (zon* OR restriction* OR regulat* OR law*) AND (dens*)
• (happy hour$ or liquor by the drink or ladies night or (drink$ and (special$ or discount$ or pric$)) { Decreasing promotional pricing}
  • (promot* OR special OR discount OR “happy hour” OR “ladies night”) AND (pric*) AND (decrease OR restrict* OR regulat* OR limit OR reduc*)

3) Exclusionary keywords

• (air and quality) or pollution
• methanol or methyl
• solvent$

Search for (1) AND (2), NOT (3)

Wagenaar AC, Salois MJ, Komro KA. Effects of beverage alcohol price and tax levels on drinking: a meta-analysis of 1003 estimates from 112 studies. Addiction 2009a;104:179–90.

Wagenaar AC, Maldonado-Molina MM, Wagenaar BH. Effects of alcohol tax increases on alcohol-related disease mortality in Alaska: time–series analyses from 1976 to 2004. Am J Public Health 2009b;99:1464–70.