IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v62y2006i9p2101-2111.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Price elasticity of demand for malt liquor beer: Findings from a US pilot study

Author

Listed:
  • French, Michael Thomas
  • BrownTaylor, Didra
  • Bluthenthal, Ricky Neville

Abstract

Our objective is to estimate the relative price elasticity of demand for malt liquor beer (MLB), regular beer, hard liquor, and a combined group of all other alcoholic beverages. Three hundred and twenty-nine alcohol consumers (mostly male) in South-Central Los Angeles answered a series of questions pertaining to expected consumption responses to hypothetical price increases. We found that based on a 10% price increase, the mean price elasticity of demand (% change in quantity demanded / % change in price) was -0.79 for MLB drinkers, -1.14 for regular beer drinkers, -1.11 for hard liquor drinkers, and -1.69 for the combined group of all other drinkers. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the personal characteristics significantly related to being a MLB drinker were older age, not working, being homeless, and a daily drinker. Daily (or nearly daily) drinkers were more likely to be married, earning lower incomes, and hard liquor drinkers. This study is the first to investigate the price elasticity of demand for MLB drinkers and other heavy alcohol consumers in poor urban neighborhoods of the US. Future research can use the methods from this pilot study to more rigorously examine and compare the price sensitivity among heavy drinking groups.

Suggested Citation

  • French, Michael Thomas & BrownTaylor, Didra & Bluthenthal, Ricky Neville, 2006. "Price elasticity of demand for malt liquor beer: Findings from a US pilot study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(9), pages 2101-2111, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:9:p:2101-2111
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(05)00538-1
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Grossman, Michael & Chaloupka, Frank J & Sirtalan, Ismail, 1998. "An Empirical Analysis of Alcohol Addiction: Results from the Monitoring the Future Panels," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(1), pages 39-48, January.
    2. Ruhm, Christopher J., 1996. "Alcohol policies and highway vehicle fatalities," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 435-454, August.
    3. Saffer, Henry & Chaloupka, Frank, 1999. "The Demand for Illicit Drugs," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(3), pages 401-411, July.
    4. Grube, J.W. & Wallack, L., 1994. "Television beer advertising and drinking knowledge, beliefs, and intentions among schoolchildren," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 84(2), pages 254-259.
    5. Kenneth Clements & Wana Yang & Simon Zheng, 1997. "Is utility additive? The case of alcohol," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(9), pages 1163-1167.
    6. French, Michael T. & Zarkin, Gary A., 1995. "Is moderate alcohol use related to wages? Evidence from four worksites," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 319-344, August.
    7. Dee, Thomas S., 1999. "State alcohol policies, teen drinking and traffic fatalities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 289-315, May.
    8. Heien, Dale, 1995. "The Economic Case against Higher Alcohol Taxes," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 207-209, Winter.
    9. Manning, Willard G. & Blumberg, Linda & Moulton, Lawrence H., 1995. "The demand for alcohol: The differential response to price," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 123-148, June.
    10. Henry Saffer & Frank J. Chaloupka, 1999. "Demographic Differentials in the Demand for Alcohol and Illicit Drugs," NBER Chapters, in: The Economic Analysis of Substance Use and Abuse: An Integration of Econometric and Behavioral Economic Research, pages 187-212, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Donald G. Freeman, 2000. "Alternative Panel Estimates of Alcohol Demand, Taxation, and the Business Cycle," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 67(2), pages 325-344, July.
    12. Nancy M. Petry & Warren K. Bickel, 1998. "A Behavioral Economic Analysis of Polydrug Abuse in Heroin Addicts," NBER Working Papers 6415, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Nelson, Jon P, 1997. "Economic and Demographic Factors in U.S. Alcohol Demand: A Growth-Accounting Analysis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 83-102.
    14. Gruber, Jonathan & Sen, Anindya & Stabile, Mark, 2003. "Estimating price elasticities when there is smuggling: the sensitivity of smoking to price in Canada," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 821-842, September.
    15. Frank J. Chaloupka & Henry Wechsler, 1996. "Binge Drinking In College: The Impact Of Price, Availability, And Alcohol Control Policies," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 14(4), pages 112-124, October.
    16. Vivian Hamilton & Barton H. Hamilton, 1997. "Alcohol and Earnings: Does Drinking Yield a Wage Premium," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 30(1), pages 135-151, February.
    17. Garry F. Barrett, 2002. "The Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Earnings," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 78(240), pages 79-96, March.
    18. Zarkin, Gary A. & French, Michael T. & Mroz, Thomas & Bray, Jeremy W., 1998. "Alcohol use and wages: New results from the national household survey on drug abuse," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 53-68, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Olmstead, Todd A. & Alessi, Sheila M. & Kline, Brendan & Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo & Petry, Nancy M., 2015. "The price elasticity of demand for heroin: Matched longitudinal and experimental evidence," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 59-71.
    2. P.V. Nketcha Nana & Frank Kano Ndekouong & Jackson Ngwa Ediellé & Christophe Peguy Choub Faha, 2014. "Politique d'augmentation des taxes sur les cigarettes au Cameroun: Comment réaliser à la fois les objectifs de santé publique et de recettes fiscales," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(2), pages 250-263, June.
    3. de Visser, Richard O. & Smith, Jonathan A., 2007. "Young men's ambivalence toward alcohol," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 350-362, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cook, Philip J. & Moore, Michael J., 2000. "Alcohol," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 30, pages 1629-1673, Elsevier.
    2. Cook, Philip J. & Moore, Michael J., 1999. "Alcohol," Working Papers 156, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    3. Dave, Dhaval & Kaestner, Robert, 2002. "Alcohol taxes and labor market outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 357-371, May.
    4. Dhaval Dave & Henry Saffer, 2007. "Risk Tolerance and Alcohol Demand Among Adults and Older Adults," NBER Working Papers 13482, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Dave, Dhaval & Saffer, Henry, 2008. "Alcohol demand and risk preference," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 810-831, December.
    6. Preety Srivastava, 2010. "Does Bingeing Affect Earnings?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 86(275), pages 578-595, December.
    7. Pinka Chatterji & Jeffrey DeSimone, 2006. "High School Alcohol Use and Young Adult Labor Market Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 12529, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Chatterji, Pinka & Alegria, Margarita & Takeuchi, David, 2011. "Psychiatric disorders and labor market outcomes: Evidence from the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 858-868.
    9. Maryam Dilmaghani, 2022. "The link between smoking, drinking and wages: Health, workplace social capital or discrimination?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 160-183, March.
    10. Sijbren Cnossen, 2006. "Alcohol Taxation and Regulation in the European Union," CESifo Working Paper Series 1821, CESifo.
    11. Ruhm, Christopher J. & Jones, Alison Snow & McGeary, Kerry Anne & Kerr, William C. & Terza, Joseph V. & Greenfield, Thomas K. & Pandian, Ravi S., 2012. "What U.S. data should be used to measure the price elasticity of demand for alcohol?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 851-862.
    12. Ziggy MacDonald & Michael A. Shields, 2004. "Does problem drinking affect employment? Evidence from England," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(2), pages 139-155, February.
    13. Petri Böckerman & Ari Hyytinen & Terhi Maczulskij, 2017. "Alcohol Consumption and Long‐Term Labor Market Outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 275-291, March.
    14. D. Mark Anderson & Benjamin Hansen & Daniel I. Rees, 2013. "Medical Marijuana Laws, Traffic Fatalities, and Alcohol Consumption," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(2), pages 333-369.
    15. Farrell, Susan & Manning, Willard G. & Finch, Michael D., 2003. "Alcohol dependence and the price of alcoholic beverages," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 117-147, January.
    16. Michael Grossman, 2005. "Individual Behaviours and Substance Use: The Role of Price," Advances in Health Economics and Health Services Research, in: Substance Use: Individual Behaviour, Social Interactions, Markets and Politics, pages 15-39, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    17. Shao-Hsun Keng & Wallace Huffman, 2010. "Binge drinking and labor market success: a longitudinal study on young people," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(1), pages 303-322, January.
    18. Edvard Johansson & Hannu Alho & Urpo Kiiskinen & Kari Poikolainen, 2007. "The association of alcohol dependency with employment probability: evidence from the population survey ‘Health 2000 in Finland’," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(7), pages 739-754, July.
    19. C. Vilaplana & José M. Labeaga & S. Jiménez-Martín, 2006. "Further evidence about alcohol consumption and the business cycle," Working Papers 2006-06, FEDEA.
    20. Markowitz, Sara, 2005. "Alcohol, Drugs and Violent Crime," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 20-44, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:9:p:2101-2111. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.