The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Morbidity in the United States
利用多州行政记录和断点回归设计，发现21岁合法饮酒年龄导致住院和急诊就诊率显著上升，主要源于意外伤害、酒精过量和他人伤害，表明仅关注死亡率会低估严格酒精控制的好处。
We provide the first evaluation of the effect of the U.S. minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) on nonfatal injuries. Using administrative records from several states and a regression discontinuity approach, we document that inpatient hospital admissions and emergency department (ED) visits increase by 8.4 and 71.3 per 10, 000 person-years, respectively, at age 21. These effects are due mainly to an increase in the rate at which young men experience accidental injuries, alcohol overdoses, and injuries inflicted by others. Our results suggest that the literature’s disproportionate focus on mortality leads to a significant underestimation of the benefits of tighter alcohol control.