Does the minimum legal drinking age save lives?
By: Jeffrey A. Miron, Elina Tetelbaum.
Contributors: Tetelbaum, Elina.; National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper series -- no. 13257.; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research) -- working paper no. 13257.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 37
Subjects: Drinking age -- Law and legislation -- United States; Youth -- Alcohol use -- United States -- Econometric models; Drinking and traffic accidents -- United States -- Econometric models; Traffic fatalities -- United States -- Econometric models
Description: 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 paper challenges both claims. State-level panel data for the past 30 years 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.
Notes: "July 2007."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 18-19).

Also available in PDF from the NBER world wide web site (www.nber.org)..