Alcohol prices, the April effect, and the environment, in violence-related injury in England and Wales

Matthews, Kent ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6968-3098, Heravi, Saeed ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0198-764X, Morgan, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8555-3493, Page, Nicholas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4671-2797, Shepherd, Jonathan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6466-2298 and Sivarajasingam, Vaseekaran ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3541-592X 2023. Alcohol prices, the April effect, and the environment, in violence-related injury in England and Wales. European Journal of Health Economics 10.1007/s10198-023-01583-w

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (2MB)

Abstract

Violent injury varies widely across England and Wales as does the price of alcohol. While the links between alcohol consumption and violence are well established in the medical and epidemiological literature, a causal link is questionable. This paper cuts through the causative argument by reporting a link between the general price of alcohol and violence-related injury across the economic regions of England and Wales. It examines the influence of the real price of alcohol and identifies an ‘April effect’ that coincides with the annual uprating of alcohol prices for excise duties, on violence-related injuries recorded at Emergency Department attendance. The data are monthly frequency of violent injury rates covering the period 2005–2014 across the economic regions. The principal finding is that a one-way relationship between the real price of alcohol and violent injury is established, and tax policy can be used to reduce the incidence of violent injury and the associated health costs.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education) Dentistry Business (Including Economics)
Publisher:	Springer
ISSN:	1618-7598
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	29 March 2023
Date of Acceptance:	13 March 2023
Last Modified:	17 May 2023 17:18
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/158167

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item