Alcohol, violence and injury-induced mortality: Evidence from a modern-day prohibition

Arbeitspapier

This paper evaluates the impact of a sudden and unexpected nation-wide alcohol sales ban in South Africa. We find that this policy causally reduced injury-induced mortality in the country by at least 14% during the five weeks of the ban. We argue that this estimate constitutes a lower bound on the true impact of alcohol on injury-induced mortality. We also document a sharp drop in violent crimes, indicating a tight link between alcohol and aggressive behavior in society. Our results underscore the severe harm that alcohol can cause and point towards a role for policy measures that target the heaviest drinkers in society.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: WZB Discussion Paper ; No. SP II 2022-301

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health ; Health Behavior ; Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
• Subject: alcohol ; mortality ; economics ; health ; crime ; South Africa ; COVID-19 ; violence

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Barron, Kai ; Parry, Charles D. H. ; Bradshaw, Debbie ; Dorrington, Rob ; Groenewald, Pam ; Laubscher, Ria ; Matzopoulos, Richard
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB)
• (where): Berlin
• (when): 2022

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/251789
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET