Although consensus exists among researchers that higher alcoholic beverage prices and taxes result in less drinking and fewer drinking-related problems, the magnitude of consumer response to price or tax changes is more difficult to determine. Economists measure consumer response to price changes by computing the price elasticity, defined as the percentage change in demand that results from a 1-percent change in price (see textbox, page 64). Price changes seem to affect the demand for beer less than they affect the demand for other alcoholic beverages. In 1993 researchers reported that a 1-percent increase in price translated into decreases in demand of 0.3 percent for beer, 1 percent for wine, and 1.5 percent for spirits (Leung and Phelps 1993).
