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The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Crime

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  • Carpenter, Christopher
  • Dobkin, Carlos

Abstract

We use variation from the minimum legal drinking age to estimate the causal effect of access to alcohol on crime. Using a census of arrests in California and a regression discontinuity design, we find that individuals just over age 21 are 5.9% more likely to be arrested than individuals just under 21. This increase is mostly due to assaults, alcohol-related offenses, and nuisance crimes. These results suggest that policies that restrict access to alcohol have the potential to substantially reduce crime.

Suggested Citation

  • Carpenter, Christopher & Dobkin, Carlos, 2015. "The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Crime," Santa Cruz Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt0z1454cn, Department of Economics, UC Santa Cruz.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:ucscec:qt0z1454cn
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Crost, Benjamin & Guerrero, Santiago, 2012. "The effect of alcohol availability on marijuana use: Evidence from the minimum legal drinking age," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 112-121.
    2. Gordon Dahl & Stefano DellaVigna, 2009. "Does Movie Violence Increase Violent Crime?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(2), pages 677-734.
    3. Carrell, Scott E. & Hoekstra, Mark & West, James E., 2011. "Does drinking impair college performance? Evidence from a regression discontinuity approach," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 54-62.
    4. Christopher Carpenter, 2007. "Heavy Alcohol Use and Crime: Evidence from Underage Drunk-Driving Laws," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 50(3), pages 539-557.
    5. Conlin, Michael & Dickert-Conlin, Stacy & Pepper, John, 2005. "The Effect of Alcohol Prohibition on Illicit-Drug-Related Crimes," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 48(1), pages 215-234, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Anna Bindler & Randi Hjalmarsson & Nadine Ketel & Andreea Mitrut, 2024. "Discontinuities in the Age-Victimisation Profile and the Determinants of Victimisation," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(657), pages 95-134.
    2. Kabir Dasgupta & Alexander Plum & Christopher Erwin, 2022. "The Devil is in the Details: Identifying Unbiased Link between Alcohol Purchasing Rights and Youth Delinquency," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(6), pages 1380-1431, December.
    3. Stefan Boes & Steven Stillman, 2024. "Drink and drive? Understanding the dynamics of youth risk‐taking," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(10), pages 2381-2398, October.
    4. Briggs Depew & Jacob Meyer, 2023. "Legal access to alcohol and automobile accidents: Potential interactive effects of alcohol and drug consumption," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(2), pages 338-353, April.
    5. Abboud, Tatiana & Bellou, Andriana & Lewis, Joshua, 2024. "The long-run impacts of adolescent drinking: Evidence from Zero Tolerance Laws," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).

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