BIBLIOGRAPHY

Publications, working papers, and other research using data resources from IPUMS.

Full Citation

Title: Has Increased Body Weight Made Driving Safer?

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2014

Abstract: We develop a model of alcohol consumption that incorporates the negative biological relationship between body mass and inebriation conditional on total alcohol consumption. Our model predicts that the elasticity of inebriation with respect to weight is equal to the own-price elasticity of alcohol, consistent with body mass increasing the effective price of inebriation. Given that alcohol is generally considered price inelastic, this result implies that as individuals gain weight, they consume more alcohol but become less inebriated. We test this prediction and find that driver blood alcohol content (BAC) is negatively associated with driver weight. In fatal accidents with driver BAC above 0.10, the driver was 7.8 percentage points less likely to be obese than drivers in fatal accidents that did not involve alcohol. This relationship is not explained by driver attributes (age and sex), driver behaviors (speed and seatbelt use), vehicle attributes (weight class, model year, and number of occupants), or accident context (county of accident, time of day, and day of week). Copyright 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Dunn, Richard A.; Tefft, Nathan W.

Periodical (Full): Health Economics

Issue: 11

Volume: 23

Pages: 1374-1389

Data Collections: IPUMS Health Surveys - NHIS

Topics: Health, Other

Countries:

IPUMS NHGIS NAPP IHIS ATUS Terrapop