Excess drinking is associated with lost productivity, accidents, disability, early death, crime, neglect of family responsibilities, and personality deterioration. These and related concerns have justified special restrictions on alcoholic-beverage commerce and consumption. The nature and extent...

Several studies have examined the effects of state cigarette tax increases on youth substance use over the 1990s, with most - but not all - finding that higher taxes reduce youth consumption of tobacco. We advance the literature by using data from the 1991 to 2005 waves of the national Youth...

The last time that federal excise taxes on alcoholic beverages were increased was 1991. The changes were larger than the typical state-level changes that have been used to study price effects, but the consequences have not been assessed due to the lack of a control group. Here we develop and...

Despite the long-term decline in the number of death sentences and the lack of executions, the cost of the death penalty in North Carolina remains high. To document this cost, the empirical analysis here focuses on a recent two-year period, comparing actual costs associated with capital...

In this article we present the strongest evidence to date that chronic heavy drinkers' consumption is responsive to changes in the price of liquor. We estimate that an increase in the liquor excise tax by one dollar (1967 prices) per proof gallon reduces the liver cirrhosis mortality rate by...