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Blind Tigers and Red-Tape Cocktails: Liquor Control and Homicide in Late-Nineteenth-Century South Carolina

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  • Howard Bodenhorn

Abstract

In 1893 South Carolina prohibited the private manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol and established a state monopoly in wholesale and retail alcohol distribution. The combination of a market decline in the availability of alcohol, reduced variety, and monopoly pricing at state-operated outlets encouraged black markets in alcohol. Because black market participants tend to resort to extra-legal mechanisms for dispute resolution, including violence, one result of South Carolina’s alcohol restriction was an increase in homicide. A continuous-treatment difference-in-difference approach reveals that homicide rates increased by about 30 to 60 percent in counties that more vigorously enforced the law.

Suggested Citation

  • Howard Bodenhorn, 2016. "Blind Tigers and Red-Tape Cocktails: Liquor Control and Homicide in Late-Nineteenth-Century South Carolina," NBER Working Papers 22980, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22980
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. David S Jacks & Krishna Pendakur & Hitoshi Shigeoka, 2021. "Infant Mortality and the Repeal of Federal Prohibition," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(639), pages 2955-2983.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • N41 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913

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