Are Minimum Wages a Silent Killer? New Evidence on Drunk Driving Fatalities

Joseph J. Sabia; M. Melinda Pitts; Laura M. Argys

doi:10.1162/rest_a_00761

Are Minimum Wages a Silent Killer? New Evidence on Drunk Driving Fatalities

Joseph J. Sabia¹; M. Melinda Pitts²; Laura M. Argys³

¹ San Diego State University, University of New Hampshire, ESSPRI, and IZA · ² Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta · ³ University of Colorado Denver and IZA

The Review of Economics and Statistics 2019 open access

Abstract In volume 94 of this REVIEW, Adams, Blackburn, and Cotti (ABC), using Fatal Accident Reporting System data from 1998 to 2006, find that a 10% increase in the minimum wage is associated with a 7% to 11% increase in alcohol-related fatal traffic accidents involving teen drivers. We find this result does not hold when the analysis period is expanded to include 1991 through 2013. In addition, auxiliary analyses provide no support for income-driven increases in alcohol consumption, the primary mechanism posited by ABC. Together, our results suggest that minimum wage increases are not a silent killer.

DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_00761
Volume: 101 (1)
Pages: 192-199
Language: en
Export: BibTeX
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