中文摘要
本文首次评估了青少年酒精管控政策对其晚年健康和劳动力市场结果的长期影响。我们的分析利用了“零容忍”（ZT）法律在各州推行进度上的跨州差异；这些法律对21岁以下驾驶者设定了严格的酒精限值，并使青少年暴饮行为显著减少。我们采用双重差分方法，结合出生州与出生年份信息，识别在青少年时期暴露于这些法律的个体，并追踪其影响如何演变至中年。我们发现，ZT法律显著改善了晚年健康状况：青少年时期暴露于这些法律的个体在40多岁时出现认知和身体机能受限的可能性大幅降低。健康效应也体现在劳动力市场结果的改善上。这些模式不能归因于受教育程度或婚姻状况的变化。相反，我们发现受影响队列到中年时大量饮酒的可能性显著降低，这表明青少年时期的饮酒起始与习惯形成，在影响长期物质使用上发挥着重要作用。
Abstract
This paper provides the first long-run assessment of adolescent alcohol control policies on later-life health and labor market outcomes. Our analysis exploits cross-state variation in the rollout of “Zero Tolerance” (ZT) Laws, which set strict alcohol limits for drivers under age 21 and led to sharp reductions in youth binge drinking. We adopt a difference-in-differences approach that combines information on state and year of birth to identify individuals exposed to the laws during adolescence and tracks the evolving impacts into middle age. We find that ZT Laws led to significant improvements in later-life health. Individuals exposed to the laws during adolescence were substantially less likely to suffer from cognitive and physical limitations in their 40s. The health effects are mirrored by improved labor market outcomes. These patterns cannot be attributed to changes in educational attainment or marriage. Instead, we find that affected cohorts were significantly less likely to drink heavily by middle age, suggesting an important role for adolescent initiation and habit-formation in affecting long-term substance use.