TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Kamalow, Raffael
AU  - Siedler, Thomas
        TI  - The Effects of Stepwise Minimum Legal Drinking Age Legislation on Mortality: Evidence from Germany
        PY  - 2019/Jun/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 12456
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp12456
        AB  - This study investigates the short-term mortality effects of two age-based restrictions on legal access to alcohol in Germany. We exploit sharp differences in legal access to alcohol at 16 and 18 years by implementing a regression discontinuity design. We find discontinuous increases in deaths at both age cutoffs, which are mainly driven by a "novice driver effect", whereas legal access to alcohol plays a marginal role at most. Overall, our results indicate that a stepwise introduction to alcohol has, at most, a minor impact on drunk driving and mortality at age 16 and 18 years. This study thus provides fresh impetus to the ongoing debate on the "optimal" MLDA legislation.
        KW  - mortality
KW  - motor vehicle fatalities
KW  - minimum legal drinking age
KW  - regression discontinuity design
        ER  -