Dunn, Richard A. and Nathan W. Tefft. Replicating the Levitt and Porter Estimates of Drunk Driving. Journal of Applied Econometrics, forthcoming.

The included scripts implement the estimation methods developed by Levitt and Porter (2001), hereafter LP. The scripts use data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). You can manually obtain the National FARS datasets between 1975 and 2017 from NHTSA's website (NHTSA, 1975-2017).

Both Python and Stata versions of the replication scripts are included (the Python scripts are also available as a Github repo at https://github.com/ntefft/lp).

To replicate LP in Python (recommended), run the following scripts, in order:

1. retrieve.py to retrieve and save the raw data from NHTSA's FTP site. If this automated download process stops working (because of NHTSA web site changes), you can manually obtain the National FARS datasets between 1975 and 2017 from NHTSA's website (NHTSA, 1975-2017). The extract.py file (below) will look for them in the "replication\data" folder.
2. extract.py (in the "replication" folder) to extract and harmonize relevant estimation variables across survey years. The combined accident, vehicle, and person files are stored in the replication\data folder.
3. replicate.py (in the "replication" folder) to generate summary statistics and estimation results that replicate LP.

To replicate LP in Stata, run the following scripts, in order:

1. ddwc_rep_fars_extract.do (in the "replication analysis" folder) to extract and harmonize relevant estimation variables across survey years. You can store the accident, vehicle, and person files in the same folder or create a "data" folder for them and adjust the do file accordingly.
2. replication_paper.do (in the "replication analysis" folder) to generate summary statistics and estimation results that replicate LP.

References

Levitt, Steven D., and Jack Porter. How Dangerous are Drinking Drivers? Journal of Political Economy, 2001, 109(6), pgs. 1198-1237.

National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). 1975–2017. Fatality Analysis Reporting System. U. S. Department of Transportation, https://www.nhtsa.gov/node/97996/251 (accessed May 15, 2020).