Christopher Carpenter
Biographic Data
| ID | 3960612 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Christopher Carpenter |
| GIVEN NAMES | Christopher |
| FAMILY NAME | Carpenter |
| SIGNATURE | CARPENTER C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Associate Professor of Economics/Public Policy, Paul Merage School of Business, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California.; Research Associates, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts. |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 108 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Jama Health Forum Peer Reviewers in 2023
Jama Health Forum Peer Reviewers in 2022
The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Morbidity in the United States
We provide the first evaluation of the effect of the U.S. minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) on nonfatal injuries. Using administrative records from several states and a regression discontinuity approach, we document that inpatient hospital admissions and emergency department (ED) visits increase by 8.4 and 71.3 per 10,000 person-years, respectively, at age 21. These effects are due mainly to an increase in the rate at which young men experience a…
The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Crime
We use variation from the minimum legal drinking age to estimate the causal effect of access to alcohol on crime. Using a census of arrests in California and a regression discontinuity design, we find that individuals just over age 21 are 5.9% more likely to be arrested than individuals just under 21. This increase is mostly due to assaults, alcohol-related offenses, and nuisance crimes. These results suggest that policies that restrict access to…
The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Public Health
The Amethyst Initiative, signed by more than 100 college presidents and other higher education officials calls for a reexamination of the minimum legal drinking age in the United States. A central argument of the initiative is that the U.S. minimum legal drinking age policy results in more dangerous drinking than would occur if the legal drinking age were lower. A companion organization called Choose Responsibility explicitly proposes "a series o…
Smoking restrictions in bars and bartender smoking in the US, 1992–2007
State clean indoor air laws covering bars appear to reduce smoking among bartenders primarily by changing the composition of the bartender workforce with respect to smoking rather than by reducing smoking among people already employed as bartenders when restrictions are adopted. Such laws may nonetheless be an important public health tool for reducing secondhand smoke
Proximity of Fast-Food Restaurants to Schools and Adolescent Obesity
Objectives. We examined the relationship between fast-food restaurants near schools and obesity among middle and high school students in California. Methods. We used geocoded data (obtained from the 2002–2005 California Healthy Kids Survey) on over 500 000 youths and multivariate regression models to estimate associations between adolescent obesity and proximity of fast-food restaurants to schools. Results. We found that students with fast-food r…
Gay and lesbian partnership: Evidence from California
Much recent research on sexual minorities has used couples-based samples, which—by construction—provide no information on nonpartnered individuals. We present the first systematic empirical analysis of partnership and cohabitation among self-identified gay men and lesbians using two independent, large, population-wwbased data sources from California. These data indicate that 37%–46% of gay men and 51%–62% of lesbians aged 18–59 are in cohabiting …
The Effects of State Parity Laws on the Use of Mental Health Care
OBJECTIVE: We used a quasiexperimental research design to measure the effect of state parity laws on the use of mental health care in the past year. METHODS: We pooled cross-sectional data from the 2001, 2002, and 2003 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. Our sample included 83,531 adults 18 years of age or over with private health insurance stratified by the level of mental and emotional distress experienced in the worst month of the past ye…
Did Ontario's Zero Tolerance & Graduated Licensing Law reduce youth drunk driving
On April 1, 1994, Ontario, Canada, instituted a new graduated driver license (GDL) system that effectively set the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) threshold at zero for the first few years of a youth's driving eligibility. I use data from the 1983–2001 Ontario Student Drug Use Surveys (OSDUS) to examine whether the Zero Tolerance (ZT) policy reduced self‐reported drinking and alcohol‐involved driving among youth. I find that rates of drunk driv…
Heavy alcohol use and youth suicide: Evidence from tougher drunk driving laws
This paper uses the widespread variation across states in the timing of adoption of tougher drunk driving laws that set very low legal blood alcohol limits for drivers under age 21—“zero tolerance” (ZT) laws—to provide new evidence on the causal effect of alcohol use on youth suicide. ZT laws reduced heavy episodic drinking by underage men, with no effect for slightly older males. I estimate the reduced form effect of ZT policy adoption on suicid…
Sexual orientation and body weight: Evidence from multiple surveys
Gay and lesbian partnership: Evidence from California
Much recent research on sexual minorities has used couples-based samples, which—by construction—provide no information on nonpartnered individuals. We present the first systematic empirical analysis of partnership and cohabitation among self-identified gay men and lesbians using two independent, large, population-wwbased data sources from California. These data indicate that 37%–46% of gay men and 51%–62% of lesbians aged 18–59 are in cohabiting …
Proximity of Fast-Food Restaurants to Schools and Adolescent Obesity
Objectives. We examined the relationship between fast-food restaurants near schools and obesity among middle and high school students in California. Methods. We used geocoded data (obtained from the 2002–2005 California Healthy Kids Survey) on over 500 000 youths and multivariate regression models to estimate associations between adolescent obesity and proximity of fast-food restaurants to schools. Results. We found that students with fast-food r…
The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Public Health
The Amethyst Initiative, signed by more than 100 college presidents and other higher education officials calls for a reexamination of the minimum legal drinking age in the United States. A central argument of the initiative is that the U.S. minimum legal drinking age policy results in more dangerous drinking than would occur if the legal drinking age were lower. A companion organization called Choose Responsibility explicitly proposes "a series o…
Sexual orientation and body weight: Evidence from multiple surveys
Heavy alcohol use and youth suicide: Evidence from tougher drunk driving laws
This paper uses the widespread variation across states in the timing of adoption of tougher drunk driving laws that set very low legal blood alcohol limits for drivers under age 21—“zero tolerance” (ZT) laws—to provide new evidence on the causal effect of alcohol use on youth suicide. ZT laws reduced heavy episodic drinking by underage men, with no effect for slightly older males. I estimate the reduced form effect of ZT policy adoption on suicid…
Sexual orientation and body weight: Evidence from multiple surveys
Heavy alcohol use and youth suicide: Evidence from tougher drunk driving laws
This paper uses the widespread variation across states in the timing of adoption of tougher drunk driving laws that set very low legal blood alcohol limits for drivers under age 21—“zero tolerance” (ZT) laws—to provide new evidence on the causal effect of alcohol use on youth suicide. ZT laws reduced heavy episodic drinking by underage men, with no effect for slightly older males. I estimate the reduced form effect of ZT policy adoption on suicid…
Did Ontario's Zero Tolerance & Graduated Licensing Law reduce youth drunk driving
On April 1, 1994, Ontario, Canada, instituted a new graduated driver license (GDL) system that effectively set the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) threshold at zero for the first few years of a youth's driving eligibility. I use data from the 1983–2001 Ontario Student Drug Use Surveys (OSDUS) to examine whether the Zero Tolerance (ZT) policy reduced self‐reported drinking and alcohol‐involved driving among youth. I find that rates of drunk driv…
The Effects of State Parity Laws on the Use of Mental Health Care
OBJECTIVE: We used a quasiexperimental research design to measure the effect of state parity laws on the use of mental health care in the past year. METHODS: We pooled cross-sectional data from the 2001, 2002, and 2003 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. Our sample included 83,531 adults 18 years of age or over with private health insurance stratified by the level of mental and emotional distress experienced in the worst month of the past ye…
Gay and lesbian partnership: Evidence from California
Much recent research on sexual minorities has used couples-based samples, which—by construction—provide no information on nonpartnered individuals. We present the first systematic empirical analysis of partnership and cohabitation among self-identified gay men and lesbians using two independent, large, population-wwbased data sources from California. These data indicate that 37%–46% of gay men and 51%–62% of lesbians aged 18–59 are in cohabiting …
Proximity of Fast-Food Restaurants to Schools and Adolescent Obesity
Objectives. We examined the relationship between fast-food restaurants near schools and obesity among middle and high school students in California. Methods. We used geocoded data (obtained from the 2002–2005 California Healthy Kids Survey) on over 500 000 youths and multivariate regression models to estimate associations between adolescent obesity and proximity of fast-food restaurants to schools. Results. We found that students with fast-food r…
Smoking restrictions in bars and bartender smoking in the US, 1992–2007
State clean indoor air laws covering bars appear to reduce smoking among bartenders primarily by changing the composition of the bartender workforce with respect to smoking rather than by reducing smoking among people already employed as bartenders when restrictions are adopted. Such laws may nonetheless be an important public health tool for reducing secondhand smoke
The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Public Health
The Amethyst Initiative, signed by more than 100 college presidents and other higher education officials calls for a reexamination of the minimum legal drinking age in the United States. A central argument of the initiative is that the U.S. minimum legal drinking age policy results in more dangerous drinking than would occur if the legal drinking age were lower. A companion organization called Choose Responsibility explicitly proposes "a series o…
The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Crime
We use variation from the minimum legal drinking age to estimate the causal effect of access to alcohol on crime. Using a census of arrests in California and a regression discontinuity design, we find that individuals just over age 21 are 5.9% more likely to be arrested than individuals just under 21. This increase is mostly due to assaults, alcohol-related offenses, and nuisance crimes. These results suggest that policies that restrict access to…
The Minimum Legal Drinking Age and Morbidity in the United States
We provide the first evaluation of the effect of the U.S. minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) on nonfatal injuries. Using administrative records from several states and a regression discontinuity approach, we document that inpatient hospital admissions and emergency department (ED) visits increase by 8.4 and 71.3 per 10,000 person-years, respectively, at age 21. These effects are due mainly to an increase in the rate at which young men experience a…
Jama Health Forum Peer Reviewers in 2022
Jama Health Forum Peer Reviewers in 2023
Medicine (11 works) · Demography (8 works) · Environmental health (8 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Political science (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes (5 works) · Demographic economics (4 works) · Demography (4 works) · Economics (4 works)