Alcohol Consumption and Intimate Partner Violence: Long-Term Effects of a Temporary Alcohol Ban
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Posted: 24 December 2025
Abstract
We trace the impact of a partial liquor ban – from launch to reversal – on alcohol consumption and women’s experience with intimate partner violence (IPV) in Kerala, India. Decomposing the policy-induced and reversal effects by employing difference-in-differences and event-study approaches, we identify a significant reduction in alcohol consumption (but only in liquor-serving bars) with an accompanying reduction in IPV during the policy period. However, both alcohol consumption and IPV rebounded to pre-ban levels after the policy removal. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals these effects to be confined only amongst high-wealth households. A battery of robustness tests confirms our findings.