Play Hard, Shirk Hard? The Effect of Bar Hours Regulation on Worker Absence
利用英国和西班牙酒吧营业时间的立法变化，研究发现营业时间延长会增加员工缺勤，且酒精消费增加是关键机制，对英国影响持久。
The regulation of alcohol availability has the potential to influence worker productivity. This paper uses legislative changes in bar opening hours to provide a potential quasi‐natural experiment of the effect of alcohol availability on working effort, focusing on worker absenteeism. We examine two recent policy changes, one in England/Wales and one in Spain that increased and decreased opening hours respectively. We demonstrate a robust positive causal link between opening hours and absenteeism, although short‐lived for Spain. The effect is long lasting for the UK where we provide evidence which suggests that increased alcohol consumption is a key mechanism.