The belief that drinking impairs productivity has helped to motivate a wide range of both private and public responses, from workplace rules banning drinking on the job to alcohol regulations governing the armed forces. Historically, this concern with the quality and quantity of work was a major factor in nineteenth-century temperance movements in the United States and Europe.33 In recent times the belief that alcohol abuse reduces the productivity of some employees has persuaded the majority of large U.S. corporations to establish occupational alcoholism programs or employee assistance programs.34 And several government-commissioned estimates of the economic costs of alcohol abuse have asserted that these costs are predominantly the result of reduced productivity.35 Curiously, however, the belief that drinking impairs productivity does not receive unambiguous support from the econometric work on the subject.