Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
2-2021
Abstract
We analyze household-level changes in alcohol consumption in response to pregnancy. Using scanner data, we identify households with a pregnant household member. Within an event study and a dynamic difference-in-differences estimation, we find that during a first pregnancy, households reduce their alcohol purchases by 36%. After pregnancy, purchases of alcohol are 34% lower than before pregnancy. We do not find any effect during the second pregnancy. One possible explanation for our result is that lower consumption during pregnancy changes habits and reduces consumption in the long term. We discuss other explanations and comment on policy implications.
Keywords
Alcohol, habits, pregnancy
Discipline
Behavioral Economics
Research Areas
Applied Microeconomics
Publication
Health Economics
Volume
30
Issue
2
First Page
231
Last Page
247
ISSN
1057-9230
Identifier
10.1002/hec.4188
Publisher
Wiley
Citation
JANSSEN, Aljoscha and PARSLOW, Elle.
Pregnancy persistently reduces alcohol purchases: Causal evidence from scanner data. (2021). Health Economics. 30, (2), 231-247.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2444
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4188