Abstract
Our objective is to estimate the relative price elasticity of demand for malt liquor beer (MLB), regular beer, hard liquor, and a combined group of all other alcoholic beverages. Three hundred and twenty-nine alcohol consumers (mostly male) in South-Central Los Angeles answered a series of questions pertaining to expected consumption responses to hypothetical price increases. We found that based on a 10% price increase, the mean price elasticity of demand (% change in quantity demanded / % change in price) was -0.79 for MLB drinkers, -1.14 for regular beer drinkers, -1.11 for hard liquor drinkers, and -1.69 for the combined group of all other drinkers. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the personal characteristics significantly related to being a MLB drinker were older age, not working, being homeless, and a daily drinker. Daily (or nearly daily) drinkers were more likely to be married, earning lower incomes, and hard liquor drinkers. This study is the first to investigate the price elasticity of demand for MLB drinkers and other heavy alcohol consumers in poor urban neighborhoods of the US. Future research can use the methods from this pilot study to more rigorously examine and compare the price sensitivity among heavy drinking groups.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2101-2111 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Social Science and Medicine |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2006 |
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Keywords
- Malt liquor beer
- Price elasticity of demand
- Public policy
- USA
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Economics and Econometrics
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Social Psychology
- Development
- Health(social science)
Cite this
Price elasticity of demand for malt liquor beer : Findings from a US pilot study. / French, Michael; Browntaylor, Didra; Bluthenthal, Ricky Neville.
In: Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 62, No. 9, 05.2006, p. 2101-2111.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Price elasticity of demand for malt liquor beer
T2 - Findings from a US pilot study
AU - French, Michael
AU - Browntaylor, Didra
AU - Bluthenthal, Ricky Neville
PY - 2006/5
Y1 - 2006/5
N2 - Our objective is to estimate the relative price elasticity of demand for malt liquor beer (MLB), regular beer, hard liquor, and a combined group of all other alcoholic beverages. Three hundred and twenty-nine alcohol consumers (mostly male) in South-Central Los Angeles answered a series of questions pertaining to expected consumption responses to hypothetical price increases. We found that based on a 10% price increase, the mean price elasticity of demand (% change in quantity demanded / % change in price) was -0.79 for MLB drinkers, -1.14 for regular beer drinkers, -1.11 for hard liquor drinkers, and -1.69 for the combined group of all other drinkers. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the personal characteristics significantly related to being a MLB drinker were older age, not working, being homeless, and a daily drinker. Daily (or nearly daily) drinkers were more likely to be married, earning lower incomes, and hard liquor drinkers. This study is the first to investigate the price elasticity of demand for MLB drinkers and other heavy alcohol consumers in poor urban neighborhoods of the US. Future research can use the methods from this pilot study to more rigorously examine and compare the price sensitivity among heavy drinking groups.
AB - Our objective is to estimate the relative price elasticity of demand for malt liquor beer (MLB), regular beer, hard liquor, and a combined group of all other alcoholic beverages. Three hundred and twenty-nine alcohol consumers (mostly male) in South-Central Los Angeles answered a series of questions pertaining to expected consumption responses to hypothetical price increases. We found that based on a 10% price increase, the mean price elasticity of demand (% change in quantity demanded / % change in price) was -0.79 for MLB drinkers, -1.14 for regular beer drinkers, -1.11 for hard liquor drinkers, and -1.69 for the combined group of all other drinkers. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the personal characteristics significantly related to being a MLB drinker were older age, not working, being homeless, and a daily drinker. Daily (or nearly daily) drinkers were more likely to be married, earning lower incomes, and hard liquor drinkers. This study is the first to investigate the price elasticity of demand for MLB drinkers and other heavy alcohol consumers in poor urban neighborhoods of the US. Future research can use the methods from this pilot study to more rigorously examine and compare the price sensitivity among heavy drinking groups.
KW - Malt liquor beer
KW - Price elasticity of demand
KW - Public policy
KW - USA
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33644906132&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33644906132&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.10.012
DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.10.012
M3 - Article
C2 - 16297518
AN - SCOPUS:33644906132
VL - 62
SP - 2101
EP - 2111
JO - Social Science and Medicine
JF - Social Science and Medicine
SN - 0277-9536
IS - 9
ER -