The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #41935

Pierre K. Alexandre, PhD, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, School of Medicine--University of Miami, Highland Building--Third Floor (D-93), 1801 NW 9 Avenue, Miami, FL 33136, 305-243-3482, p.alexandre@miami.edu

Over the years, scientists have observed that heavy drinking has contributed to the development of a variety of medical problems, including cardiovascular, infectious, neurological, dermatological, and musculo-skeletal diseases. However, in the last two decades, a growing number of studies have shown that both non-drinkers and heavy drinkers of alcohol had higher total and cardiovascular mortality rates than light or moderate drinkers. This alcohol-mortality relationship, represented generally as a U- or J- shaped curve, means that the risk of a disease outcome, particularly cardiovascular disease, from low to moderate drinking is less than the risk for either abstinence or heavy drinking. Parallel to the extensive research on alcohol and health is a vast body of social and ethnographic research indicating that drinking is often a positive experience for individuals and social groups. This perspective has started to be incorporated into epidemiological research and analyses, but not yet into the economic analysis of alcohol drinking. This study uses the 1999 National Household Survey of Drug Abuse to examine the relationship between alcohol consumption and employment. Specifically, while controlling for the endogeneity of alcohol use in the employment specifications, the empirical analysis specifies curvilinear models to disentangle the negative effects of alcohol abuse from the possible positive outcomes associated with lower or moderate levels of consumption. Given the significant gender differences in alcohol use patterns and labor market behavior, separate models will be estimated for males and females. Results and conclusions will be discussed.

Learning Objectives: Participants to this session will learn

• How light, moderate, and heavy drinking differently impact the probability to work or participate in the labor market.
• To test for endogeneity of substance abuse as well as curvilinearity of a relationship.
• to examine whether light or moderate alcohol use may in fact have beneficial effects of public health relevance.
• Broader means of qualifying and quantifying the economic aspects of alcohol consumption.

Keywords: Alcohol Use, Economic Analysis

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: University of Miami - Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Employment