As part of the Brown Bag Lunch series, the International Economics Department at the Graduate Institute is pleased to invite you to a public talk given by Helena Ting, PhD student in Development Economics.

Addictive alcohol consumption in China from 2002 to 2007: empirical analysis with health deficits

Abstract: I study addictive behavior in alcohol consumption, in a sample of Chinese households from 2002 to 2007. I start with the Theory of Rational Addiction, and find empirical attributes of addiction that is similar to what is predicted by the theory.  I then develop an empirical formulation based on a recent theory extension that incorporates a health deficit function. This leads to an estimation equation that includes non-linearity terms on past and future consumption. The exponents relate to the negative effects of the addictive consumption on health. Attributes of addiction increase with the strength of the addiction, and decrease with its health effects.