Global consumption patterns for alcoholic beverages are evolving, with some convergence in per capita consumption among nations, as traditionally beer-drinking nations increase their consumption of wine and, conversely, wine-consuming nations shift towards beer. In a forthcoming article (Hart and Alston, 2019), we explore regional patterns of alcoholic beverage consumption within the United States. One purpose is to see if similar patterns of spatial convergence in consumption patterns can be observed within countries as have been documented in international comparisons. A more fundamental purpose is to explore the converse question and seek to better understand the persistent differences in alcoholic beverage consumption among groups. These issues are addressed using annual U.S. national and state-level data over four decades and, for the more recent period, supermarket scanner data at finer scales of geopolitical aggregation. This proceedings article focuses on the analysis using supermarket scanner data. We find that socioeconomic and demographic variables appear to play significant roles in accounting for the spatial differences in consumption patterns. (JEL Classifications: D12, L66)

中文翻译：

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美国酒类市场的持续模式：观察人口统计与饮酒之间的联系

酒精饮料的全球消费模式正在发生变化，各国人均消费量有所趋同，因为传统啤酒饮用国增加了葡萄酒消费量，相反，葡萄酒消费国转向啤酒。在即将发表的一篇文章（Hart 和 Alston，2019 年）中，我们探讨了美国境内酒精饮料消费的区域模式。一个目的是看看是否可以在国家内部观察到类似的消费模式空间趋同模式，正如国际比较中所记录的那样。一个更根本的目的是探索相反的问题，并寻求更好地了解群体之间酒精饮料消费的持续差异。这些问题是使用美国四个十年来的年度国家和州级数据来解决的，并且，在最近的时期，超市扫描仪数据在更精细的地缘政治聚合规模上。这篇论文集的重点是使用超市扫描仪数据进行分析。我们发现，社会经济和人口变量似乎在解释消费模式的空间差异方面发挥了重要作用。（JEL 分类：D12、L66）