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Friday, November 28, 2008

Alcohol consumption and sickness absence: evidence from microdata
The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access published online on November 25, 2008


Aggregate time-series evidence has shown that overall per capita alcohol consumption is associated with sickness absence.

This study re-examines the relationship between alcohol consumption and sickness absence by using individual-level microdata and methods that yield results which are less likely to be due to spurious correlations.

The estimates show that alcohol consumption is associated with sickness absence. The positive relationship between alcohol consumption and sickness absence is particularly pronounced for low-educated males.

Aggregate time-series evidence for the relationship between alcohol consumption and sickness absence is confirmed by using individual-level microdata. The policy lesson is that it is important to take into account the effects of alcohol consumption on the prevalence of sickness absence (i.e. labour supply on an intensive margin) when one is considering the level of taxation of alcoholic beverages.

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