  This paper reviews the research on the impacts of alcohol taxation outcomes
such as heavy drinking and mortality. Where data availability permits, reviewed
studies are replicated and reanalyzed. Despite weaknesses in the majority of
studies, and despite seeming disagreements among the more credible one--ones
based on natural experiments--we can be reasonably confident that taxing
alcohol reduces drinking in general and problem drinking in particular. The
larger and cleaner the underlying natural experiment, the more apt a study is
to detect impacts on drinking. Estimates from the highest-powered study
settings, such as in Alaska in 2002 and Finland in 2004, suggest an elasticity
of mortality with respect to price of -1 to -3. A 10% price increase in the US
would, according to this estimate, save 2,000-6,000 lives and 48,000-130,000
years of life each year.
