The Impact of Alcohol on Negotiator Behavior: Experimental Evidence1

Dark Side or Bright Side: The Impact of Alcohol Drinking on the Trust of Chinese Rural Residents

Existing studies have explored the causal effect of social capital on harmful drinking, while the effect of drinking habits on trust is scant. In China, drinking rituals and drinking culture are considered important ways of promoting social interaction and trust, especially in rural areas where traditional culture is stronger. Based on a field survey in rural China in 2019, this paper explores the relationship between drinking habits and trust. First, we found a negative relationship between drinking habits and trust, indicating that those people who drink alcohol are more likely to have a lower trust. Second, we found significant heterogeneity in the effect of alcohol consumption on social trust across various groups. Specifically, the negative effects of alcohol consumption on trust were stronger for the females than for males; drinking alcohol did not reduce the level of trust among the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in rural China; compared with the Han nationality, we found that the effect of drinking on trust was not significant for the ethnic minority. Third, we observed that the negative effects of alcohol consumption on trust had thresholds across age and income. Among people under 51, the risk of trust from drinking was greater than for those over 51; the negative effect of drinking on residents’ trust was more obvious in low-income families, but not significant in the group with an annual household income of more than CNY 40,000. Our empirical study provides a deeper understanding of drinking culture in rural China from a dialectical perspective.

The role of restraint omission in alcohol-related traffic fatalities

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Fatal traffic accidents affect thousands of people in the US alone every year. Alcohol consumption has been identified as a strong predictor of traffic fatalities. This result is hardly surprising as drivers who decide to consume alcohol and then drive are more likely to exhibit poor driving performance. In this paper, I argue that alcohol consumption can lead to traffic fatalities by increasing restraint omission.

METHODS

I analyzed individual-level data about victims (n=488,829) of fatal traffic accidents that occurred in the US between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2015 from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System of the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration.

RESULTS

There is a strong relationship between alcohol consumption and restraint use. Both vehicle drivers and occupants are far less likely to be restrained when inebriated. Additional analyses show that part of the effect of alcohol consumption on traffic fatalities can be attributed to restraint omission.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a significant relationship between alcohol consumption and restraint omission for both drivers and occupants of vehicles that were involved in fatal traffic accidents in the US between January 1999 and December 2015. Past public health campaigns have focused on preventing traffic fatalities by persuading drivers to refrain from getting behind the wheel after consuming alcohol. My data suggest that public health campaigns should inform both drivers and occupants of vehicles about the relationship between alcohol and restraint omission in order to minimize future casualties.