Alcohol Prohibition and Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from an Indian State

Abstract

We study the effect of prohibition of the sale and consumption of alcohol on intimate partner violence. We use a relatively recent alcohol-prohibition policy implemented in the Indian state of Bihar as our context. Using data from the two latest rounds of the National Family Health Survey, conducted just before and after the ban, and employing a propensity-score-matching-based difference-in-differences empirical strategy, we find evidence of lower reported intimate partner violence as a result of the policy. Our results remain robust to plausible confounding effects of COVID-19 on domestic violence and also to underreporting of violence by the women. Our analysis of possible mechanisms suggests that a decline in alcohol consumption among men was the primary driver of this reduction. The study contributes to the larger debate on the welfare effects of alcohol-prohibition policies.