Premium
DOES THE MINIMUM LEGAL DRINKING AGE SAVE LIVES?
Author(s) -
MIRON JEFFREY A.,
TETELBAUM ELINA
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2008.00179.x
Subject(s) - government (linguistics) , human factors and ergonomics , poison control , injury prevention , occupational safety and health , suicide prevention , environmental health , state government , state (computer science) , computer security , medicine , computer science , local government , law , political science , pathology , philosophy , linguistics , algorithm
The minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) is widely believed to save lives by reducing traffic fatalities among underage drivers. Further, the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act, which pressured all states to adopt an MLDA of 21, is regarded as having contributed enormously to this life‐saving effect. This article challenges both claims. State‐level panel data for the past 30 yr show that any nationwide impact of the MLDA is driven by states that increased their MLDA prior to any inducement from the federal government. Even in early‐adopting states, the impact of the MLDA did not persist much past the year of adoption. The MLDA appears to have only a minor impact on teen drinking. ( JEL H11, K42)