Working Paper: NBER ID: w23542
Authors: Marigee Bacolod; Jesse M. Cunha; Yuchu Shen
Abstract: We study the impact of legal access to alcohol on a range of behavioral and physical outcomes of U.S. Army soldiers in a regression discontinuity design. The wealth of novel data collected by the military on cognitive ability, psychological health, and family history allows us to explore how impacts vary with risk factors for alcohol consumption. Overall, we observe a large and significant increase in drinking after the 21st birthday, but the increases are largest amongst those who were depressed, had a family history of mental health problems, had better coping ability, and had higher cognitive ability. Despite the large increase in consumption, we do not find any meaningful impacts of legal access to alcohol - overall or in any sub-group - on any of the short-term outcomes we observe, including suicidal tendencies, depression, tobacco use, physical fitness, psychological health, deployability, smoking, and job-related infractions. Acknowledging the limitations for extrapolation out of sample, we discuss the policy implications of our results.
Keywords: Alcohol; Mental Health; Job Performance; Physical Fitness
JEL Codes: I12; I18
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Alcohol consumption (L66) | Mental health outcomes (I12) |
| Alcohol consumption (L66) | Physical fitness outcomes (I12) |
| Alcohol consumption (L66) | Job performance outcomes (L25) |
| Legal access to alcohol at age 21 (L66) | Alcohol consumption (L66) |
| Legal access to alcohol at age 21 (L66) | Suicidal tendencies (I12) |
| Legal access to alcohol at age 21 (L66) | Depression (E32) |
| Legal access to alcohol at age 21 (L66) | Tobacco use (I12) |
| Legal access to alcohol at age 21 (L66) | Physical fitness (I19) |
| Legal access to alcohol at age 21 (L66) | Psychological health (I31) |
| Legal access to alcohol at age 21 (L66) | Deployability (H56) |
| Legal access to alcohol at age 21 (L66) | Job-related infractions (J81) |