Working Paper: NBER ID: w17762
Authors: B. Douglas Bernheim; Jonathan Meer; Neva K. Novarro
Abstract: This paper provides evidence concerning the extent to which consumers of liquor employ commitment devices. One widely recommended commitment strategy is to regulate alcohol consumption by deliberately manipulating availability. The paper assesses the prevalence of the “availability strategy” by evaluating the effects of policies that would influence its effectiveness – specifically, changes in allowable Sunday sales hours. It finds that consumers increase their liquor consumption in response to extended Sunday on-premises sales hours, but not in response to extended off-premises sales hours. The latter finding is inconsistent with widespread use of the availability strategy.
Keywords: commitment devices; liquor consumption; availability strategy; behavioral economics; time inconsistency
JEL Codes: D03; D12; H31; I10
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| availability strategy (D16) | liquor consumption (L66) |
| extended allowable on-premise Sunday sales hours (L66) | liquor consumption (L66) |
| extended off-premise sales hours (L66) | liquor consumption (L66) |