The distributional and corrective implications of alcohol price policies

• Agricultural Economics Workshop
• Departmental Seminar

Date and Location

Thursday, April 11, 2019, 4:10 PM - 5:30 PM
ARE Library Conference Room, 4101 Social Sciences and Humanities

Abstract

All OECD countries operate policies aimed to reduce the societal costs associated with problem drinking. Policies that increase the price of alcohol face the inherent trade-off between reducing the external costs created by heavy drinkers and the reduction in consumer surplus among lighter drinkers, who do not create externalities. We compare the effectiveness and redistributive implications of existing price-based policies, including taxes on the volume of product, on the alcohol content, and on the value of the product, and minimum unit prices.