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Compliance checks for alcohol

Public Health & Prevention: Population-level policies
  Literature review updated June 2016.

Checking and providing feedback to outlets on their compliance with minimum age laws is intended to reduce the retail supply of alcohol to youth. Studies in this analysis included a range of consequences for being caught selling alcohol to minors (warnings, fines, and threat of license revocation). Two of the three studies in this analysis also included a reward (congratulatory note) for compliance with minimum age laws. Compliance check campaigns typically include retailer education and media coverage to enhance retailers’ perception of enforcement. Studies included in this analysis range from short-term interventions of 1-2 waves of compliance checks over several months to longer-term interventions with multiple compliance checks over a 2-year period.
 
ALL
META-ANALYSIS
CITATIONS

Meta-analysis is a statistical method to combine the results from separate studies on a program, policy, or topic to estimate its effect on an outcome. WSIPP systematically evaluates all credible evaluations we can locate on each topic. The outcomes measured are the program impacts measured in the research literature (for example, impacts on crime or educational attainment). Treatment N represents the total number of individuals or units in the treatment group across the included studies.

An effect size (ES) is a standard metric that summarizes the degree to which a program or policy affects a measured outcome. If the effect size is positive, the outcome increases. If the effect size is negative, the outcome decreases. See Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes for additional information on how we estimate effect sizes.

The effect size may be adjusted from the unadjusted effect size estimated in the meta-analysis. Historically, WSIPP adjusted effect sizes to some programs based on the methodological characteristics of the study. For programs reviewed in 2024 or later, we do not make additional adjustments, and we use the unadjusted effect size whenever we run a benefit-cost analysis.

Research shows the magnitude of effects may change over time. For those effect sizes, we estimate outcome-based adjustments, which we apply between the first time ES is estimated and the second time ES is estimated. More details about these adjustments can be found in our Technical Documentation.

Meta-Analysis of Program Effects
Outcomes measured No. of effect sizes Treatment N Effect sizes (ES) and standard errors (SE) Unadjusted effect size (random effects model)
ES SE Age ES p-value
Alcohol use before end of high school
Any use of alcohol by the end of high school, typically between ages 14 and 18.
16 1 1274 -0.243 0.050 16 -0.243 0.001
Problem alcohol use
Alcohol use reflecting problem behaviors (e.g., high frequency drinking, binge drinking, or drinking that has a high impact on daily life) for individuals who do not have an alcohol use disorder.
 16 1 1274 -0.209 0.055 16 -0.209 0.001
Alcohol sales to minors
Sales of alcohol to minors (youth under 21), often measured as buy rate or sales rate from surveys. 
 16 3 708 -0.347 0.299 16 -0.511 0.149

Citations Used in the Meta-Analysis

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2004). Enhanced enforcement of laws to prevent alcohol sales to underage persons--New Hampshire, 1999-2004. MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 53(21) 452-454.

Chandler, W.C. (2001). The deterrent effect of the undercover compliance check strategy to reduce the sale of alcoholic beverages to minors in North Carolina: A quasi-experimental design. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from: http://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/ir/handle/1840.16/4339

Van Hoof, J.J., Gosselt, J.F., Baas, N., & De Jong, M.D.T. (2011). Improving shop floor compliance with age restrictions for alcohol sales: Effectiveness of a feedback letter intervention. European Journal of Public Health, 22(5). 737-742.