Availability & Sales of Alcohol
Experiences from Canada & the U.S.
By Bjorn Trolldal
November 2005
Almqvist & Wiksell
ISBN: 9122021221 
112 pages, 6 ¾" x 9 ½"
$69.50 Paper Original
This thesis consists of four papers, all of which focus on the effects of changes in the availability of alcoholic beverages on alcohol sales. The second paper also examines the effects of changes in the availability of alcohol on the incidence of fatal traffic crashes. The aim of the first paper was to evaluate the effects of the privatization of the retail sale of certain wines in Quebec in 1978, when grocery stores were allowed to sell domestically produced wine along with wine imported and bottled by the Liquor Board in Quebec.
This right was extended in 1983 to cover imported wines bottled by privately owned manufacturers as well, and in 1984 larger grocery store chains were also allowed to sell such wine. Interrupted time-series analysis (ARIMA) with a quasi-experimental control area design was used in the study, and the study period was 1950-2000.
Possible effects of the policy changes on alcohol sales were measured by means of intervention variables. Contrary to earlier studies regarding these policy changes, the results presented in this paper showed a significant and permanent effect of the policy change on wine sales in 1978. Wine sales increased by 10 percent, but the effect was not so large as to affect total sales. In 1983-1984 no immediate significant increase in wine sales was found.
Sociology
Centre for Social Research on Alcohol & Drugs, No. 2
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