Another Excuse to Drink

[Mekong]

Alcohol use helps boost income: study

 

 

 

Washington - People who consume alcohol earn significantly more at their jobs than non-drinkers, according to a US study published Thursday that highlighted "social capital" gained from drinking.

 

The study published in the Journal of Labor Research concluded that drinkers earn 10 to 14 per cent more than teetotalers, and that men who drink socially bring home an additional seven per cent in pay.

 

"Social drinking builds social capital," said Edward Stringham, an economics professor at San Jose State University and co-author of the study with fellow researcher Bethany Peters.

 

"Social drinkers are out networking, building relationships, and adding contacts to their BlackBerries that result in bigger paychecks."

 

The authors acknowledged their study, funded by the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank, contradicted research released in 2000 by the Harvard School of Public Health.

 

"We created our hypothesis through casual observation and examination of scholarly accounts," the authors said.

 

"Drinkers typically tend to be more social than abstainers."

 

The researchers said their empirical survey backed up the theory, and said the most likely explanation is that drinkers have a wider range of social contacts that help provide better job and business opportunities.

 

"Drinkers may be able to socialize more with clients and co-workers, giving drinkers an advantage in important relationships," the researchers said.

 

"Drinking may also provide individuals with opportunities to learn people, business, and social skills."

 

They also said these conclusions provide arguments against policies aimed at curbing alcohol use on university campuses and public venues.

 

"Not only do anti-alcohol policies reduce drinkers' fun, but they may also decrease earnings," the study said.

 

"One of the unintended consequences of alcohol restrictions is that they push drinking into private settings. This occurred during the Alcohol Prohibition of 1920-1933 and is happening on college campuses today. By preventing people from drinking in public, anti-alcohol policies eliminate one of the most important aspects of drinking: increased social capital."

 

The researchers found some differences in the economic effects of drinking among men and women. They concluded that men who drink earn 10 per cent more than abstainers and women drinkers earn 14 per cent more than non-drinkers.

 

However, unlike men, who get a seven per cent income boost from drinking in bars, women who frequent bars at least once per month do not show higher earnings than women drinkers who do not visit bars.

 

"Perhaps women increase social capital apart from drinking in bars," the researchers said in an effort to explain the gender gap.

 

 

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[Torneyboy]

Bottoms up

[BadaBing]

I'll drink to that !!

 

Bada Bing

[Flashermac]

According to this logic, alcoholics should be stinking rich.

[cavanami]

...about time they got something right in Washington!

[samak]

that's why i drink myself to wealth!

[BadaBing]

I have a liver of gold....

 

Bada Bing

[MaiLuk]

the most likely explanation is that drinkers have a wider range of social contacts that help provide better job and business opportunities.

 

"Drinkers may be able to socialize more with clients and co-workers, giving drinkers an advantage in important relationships," the researchers said.

 

The researchers are saying that drinking "causes" people to earn more money, and they may be absolutely right.

 

OTOH, its possible that higher earners are by definitiion under more stress with more responsibilities, leading them to drink. So earning more money "causes" people to drink, not the other way around.

[Mekong]

Or maybe we have to earn more to afford to drink

[cavanami]

...I used to have a drinking problem...then I got a better job!