Beverage Alcohol as a Constraint to Development in the Third World

Abstract

The patterns of production and consumption of beverage alcohol throughout the Third World pose a constraint to economic and social development. A multidisciplinary academic literature has arisen in response to this phenomenon. It has done so over two rather distinct time periods. The first began to take shape during the 1970s and continued through the mid to late 1980s. It gave rise to a set of three rather discrete foci: 1) on developing theoretical frameworks across academic disciplines, 2) on identifying beverage alcohol's development impact, and 3) on the generating and implementing of alcohol policies. Since the 1980s the literature has maintained those foci, but contributions to the literature did a more complete job of integrating them into more complete (and less discrete) treatments.

Key Words:

• Beverage alcohol industry
• Developing countries
• Alcohol as a constraint to development
• Alcohol policies in developing countries