2016/12/01 by Howard Bodenhorn · 5 citations
Social Sciences · Business, Management and Accounting · Medicine · #Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance #American History and Culture #Crime Patterns and Interventions #South carolina #Homicide #Archaeology #Art #Geography #Political science #Poison control #Medicine #Public administration #Injury prevention
paper · pdf · doi:10.3386/w22980
published in National Bureau of Economic Research
openalex publication_date 2016/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
In 1893 South Carolina prohibited the private manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol and established a state monopoly in wholesale and retail alcohol distribution. The combination of a market decline in the availability of alcohol, reduced variety, and monopoly pricing at stateoperated outlets encouraged black markets in alcohol. Because black market participants tend to resort to extra-legal mechanisms for dispute resolution, including violence, one result of South Carolina's alcohol restriction was an increase in homicide. A continuous-treatment difference-indifference approach reveals that homicide rates increased by about 30 to 60 percent in counties that more vigorously enforced the law.