TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2007//
TI  - Heavy alcohol use and crime: evidence from underage drunk-driving laws
JO  - Journal of law and economics
A1  - Carpenter, Christine
SP  - 539
EP  - 557
VL  - 50
IS  - 3
N2  - This paper provides new evidence on the causal effect of alcohol use and crime. I use variation induced by the adoption of strict zero-tolerance (ZT) drunk-driving laws, which significantly reduced binge drinking by males aged 18–20 years but did not affect slightly older males aged 22–24 years. I use age‐specific arrest data for police agencies in metropolitan statistical areas to estimate the effect of ZT laws on crime, controlling for both year and police agency fixed effects. I find that ZT laws significantly increased the fraction of adult male arrests for driving under the influence attributable to 18–20-year-olds and decreased the fraction of nuisance and property crime arrests attributable to 18–20-year-olds, with no effects on violent crime. These results are validated by important null findings: ZT laws did not affect arrests in any crime category for males aged 22–24 years. These results suggest that heavy alcohol use causes the commission of property and nuisance crimes.<p />
LA  - en
SN  - 0022-2186
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/519809
ID  - ref1
ER  -