Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Keg registration(KR) laws require alcohol retailers or wholesalers attach a registered label to the beer kegs they sell. These laws aim to reduce underage illegal alcohol consumption by imposing liability on adults who purchase beer kegs or host keg parties. In recent decades, an increasing number of states have adopted keg registration laws to control adolescent alcohol use and abuse, especially at keg parties. Empirical evidence of effectiveness of this policy is still insufficient. This paper makes the effort to evaluate the impact of keg registration policy on self-reported alcohol consumption and its related outcome, drunk driving, among adolescents. Using a micro-level restricted-use Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) survey data with state identifiers for each respondent from 2002 to 2013, together with the exact policy adoption date for each state, we estimate that the passage of keg registration laws is associated with about 1.7-2.7 percentage points reduction in binge drinking. We also find that male youth are more responsive to keg registration laws.