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Pregnancy persistently reduces alcohol purchases: Causal evidence from scanner data
Author(s) -
Janssen Aljoscha,
Parslow Elle
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
health economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1099-1050
pISSN - 1057-9230
DOI - 10.1002/hec.4188
Subject(s) - pregnancy , alcohol consumption , consumption (sociology) , estimation , alcohol , economics , medicine , environmental health , social science , biochemistry , chemistry , genetics , management , sociology , biology
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.