Lockdown drinking: The sobering effect of price controls in a pandemic

Bokhari, Farasat ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5418-8078, Chakraborty, Ratula, Dobson, Paul ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7352-740X and Morciano, Marcello (2024) Lockdown drinking: The sobering effect of price controls in a pandemic. Economic Inquiry. ISSN 0095-2583 (In Press)

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Abstract

Lockdown restrictions in a pandemic may slow viral transmission but disrupt livelihoods and lifestyles that might induce harmful behavior changes, including problematic lockdown drinking fueled by cheap alcohol. Exploiting differences amongst the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, we use triple difference analysis on alcohol retail sales to examine the efficacy of minimum unit pricing as a price control device to help curb excessive consumption following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. We find the policy is remarkably effective and well-targeted in reducing demand for cheap alcohol, with minimal spillover effects, and consumers overall buying and spending less.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	pandemic,lockdown,price control,minimum unit pricing,alcohol,excessive consumption,economics, econometrics and finance(all),business, management and accounting(all),social sciences(all),sdg 3 - good health and well-being,4*,highly original,important policy study,novel data,novel empirical method ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2000
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Economics Faculty of Social Sciences > Norwich Business School
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Industrial Economics Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Applied Econometrics And Finance Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Competition Policy Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Marketing Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Responsible Business Regulation Group
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	29 Apr 2024 12:30
Last Modified:	09 May 2024 08:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/95035
DOI:

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