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Author: Cook, Philip J.
Resulting in 5 citations.
1. Cook, Philip J.
Hutchinson, Rebecca
Smoke Signals: Adolescent Smoking and School Continuation
NBER Working Paper No. 12472 Issued in August 2006; Working Papers Series, SAN06-05, Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham NC, March 2006.
Also: http://www.pubpol.duke.edu/research/papers/SAN06-05.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Alcohol Use; Cigarette Use (see Smoking); College Enrollment; High School Dropouts; Peers/Peer influence/Peer relations; Smoking (see Cigarette Use)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper presents an exploratory analysis using NLSY97 data of the relationship between the likelihood of school continuation and the choices of whether to smoke or drink. We demonstrate that in the United States as of the late 1990s, smoking in 11th-grade was a uniquely powerful predictor of whether the student finished high school, and if so whether the student matriculated in a four-year college. For economists the likely explanation for this empirical link would be based on interpersonal differences in time preference, but that account is called in question by our second finding--that drinking does not predict school continuation. We speculate that the demand for tobacco by high school students is influenced by the signal conveyed by smoking (of being offtrack in school), one that is especially powerful for high-aptitude students. To further develop this view, we present estimates of the likelihood of smoking as a function of school commitment and other, more traditional variables. There are no direct implications from this analysis for whether smoking is in some sense a cause of school dropout. We offer some speculations on this matter in the conclusion... (Abstract by the author.)
Bibliography Citation
Cook, Philip J. and Rebecca Hutchinson. "Smoke Signals: Adolescent Smoking and School Continuation." NBER Working Paper No. 12472 Issued in August 2006; Working Papers Series, SAN06-05, Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham NC, March 2006.
2. Cook, Philip J.
Moore, Michael J.
Drinking and Schooling
Journal of Health Economics 12,4 (December 1993): 411-430.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/016762969390003W
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; College Education; College Graduates; Endogeneity; Peers/Peer influence/Peer relations; Schooling; Taxes

This study employs the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data to explore the effect of youthful drinking on the likelihood of college matriculation and graduation. The study finds that students who drink heavily in high school are less likely than their peers to eventually graduate from college. But the proper interpretation of the result is not clear, since high school drinking decisions are strongly influenced by aspirations for higher education. This endogeneity problem is circumvented by estimating "reduced-form" equations that relate state beer taxes and minimum drinking age to the likelihood of obtaining a college degree. The results indicate that other things equal, students who spend their high school years in states with relatively high taxes and minimum age are more likely to graduate from college.
Bibliography Citation
Cook, Philip J. and Michael J. Moore. "Drinking and Schooling." Journal of Health Economics 12,4 (December 1993): 411-430.
3. Cook, Philip J.
Moore, Michael J.
Environment and Persistence in Youthful Drinking Patterns
In: Risky Behavior Among Youths: An Economic Analysis. J. Gruber, ed. Chicago IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2001: pp. 375-437
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Alcohol Use; Substance Use; Taxes

Provides evidence on the influence of the minimum purchase age and the beer excise task on youthful drinking, using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth for 1982-85 and 1988-89. The authors find that the estimated effects of excise taxes are sensitive to specification, and they argue that increasing these taxes would reduce the prevalence of binge drinking. The authors present some descriptive statistics on how much American adolescents drink and how their use of alcohol compared with that of their counterparts in other countries. They then analyze the 25-yr trend in drinking and binging prevalence by high school seniors in the US. The similarity between this teen-drinking time profile and the time profile of adult per capita alcohol consumption suggests that the drinking decisions of teens are influence by adult drinking behavior. The authors then discuss the determinants of drinking by young adults, influencing the influence of the alcohol excise tax on alcohol abuse. Results on the persistence of youthful drinking are described with findings that suggest that alcohol availability at age 14 influences the likelihood of binging as an adult. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2000 APA, all rights reserved.)
Bibliography Citation
Cook, Philip J. and Michael J. Moore. "Environment and Persistence in Youthful Drinking Patterns" In: Risky Behavior Among Youths: An Economic Analysis. J. Gruber, ed. Chicago IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2001: pp. 375-437
4. Cook, Philip J.
Peters, Bethany Lynn
The Myth of the Drinker's Bonus
NBER Working Paper No. 11902, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2005.
Also: http://www.nber.org/papers/w11902.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Endogeneity; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Human Capital; Labor Market Demographics; Morbidity; Occupational Choice; Training, On-the-Job; Wages

Drinkers earn more than non-drinkers, even after controlling for human capital and local labor market conditions. Several mechanisms by which drinking could increase productivity have been proposed but are unconfirmed; the more obvious mechanisms predict the opposite, that drinking can impair productivity. In this paper we reproduce the positive association between drinking and earnings, using data for adults age 27-34 from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979). Since drinking is endogenous in this relationship, we then estimate a reduced-form equation, with alcohol prices (proxied by a new index of excise taxes) replacing the drinking variables. We find strong evidence that the prevalence of full-time work increases with alcohol prices -- suggesting that a reduction in drinking increases the labor supply. We also demonstrate some evidence of a positive association between alcohol prices and the earnings of full-time workers. We conclude that most likely the positive association between drinking and earnings is the result of the fact that ethanol is a normal commodity, the consumption of which increases with income, rather than an elixer that enhances productivity.
Bibliography Citation
Cook, Philip J. and Bethany Lynn Peters. "The Myth of the Drinker's Bonus." NBER Working Paper No. 11902, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2005.
5. Moore, Michael J.
Cook, Philip J.
Habit and Heterogeneity in the Youthful Demand for Alcohol
NBER Working Paper No. 5152, National Bureau of Economic Research, June 1995.
Also: http://papers.nber.org/papers/w5152
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Addiction; Adolescent Behavior; Alcohol Use; Heterogeneity

Observed patterns of youthful drinking indicate substantial persistence. This paper analyzes how much of that persistence reflects the actual development of a habit, and how much is due to unobserved aspects of the individual and the environment. The role of restrictions on alcohol availability, both in the current period and in adolescence, is also explored. We find that much of the observed persistence represents habit formation, and not unobserved characteristics. Consequently, restrictions on availability, particularly at an early age, alter subsequent patterns of alcohol consumption and abuse. This paper is available in PDF (1408 K) format: http://papers.nber.org/papers/W5152.pdf
Bibliography Citation
Moore, Michael J. and Philip J. Cook. "Habit and Heterogeneity in the Youthful Demand for Alcohol." NBER Working Paper No. 5152, National Bureau of Economic Research, June 1995.