Women or wine, monogamy and alcohol: AAWE working paper No. 75

In these sobering, belt-tightening times forget “wine women and song,” the phrase du jour is “women or wine, monogamy and alcohol!” At least it’s the title of a working paper recently posted by the American Association of Wine Economists (AAWE) here. 

Its authors, Mara Squicciarini and Jo Swinnen, were intrigued by the fact that, across the world, the main social groups which practice polygyny do not consume alcohol.  This prompted them to investigate whether there is a correlation between alcohol consumption and polygynous/monogamous arrangements, both over time and across cultures.

Does increased alcohol use lead to monogamy, or vice versa ?  Read their report and find out!