Are There Any Economic Benefits To Drinking? A Macro Study of Alcohol\u27s Effects on Education, Income, and Life Expectancy

This paper examines the cross-country relationship between per capita alcohol consumption and three economic dimensions of wellbeing. Panel data for the years 1961-2010 facilitates this study of per capita beer, spirits, wine, and total alcohol consumption\u27s effects on GNI per capita, average years of formal schooling, and life expectancy at birth. The economic impact of these four types of alcohol is analyzed using system GMM dynamic panel estimators to take into account both potential endogeneity and country-specific unobserved heterogeneity. The results suggest a positive relationship between per capita beer consumption and per capita income, they also provide evidence for a positive relationship between per capita beer consumption and years of education. There is further evidence for a negative relationship between per capita spirits consumption and education, but a positive relationship between per capita spirits consumption and per capita income. The negative relationship between per capita wine consumption and life expectancy suggests that there are not any health benefits to drinking wine