Mulcare, Tim2015-02-112022-07-062015-02-112022-07-061/06/19991999https://ir.wgtn.ac.nz/handle/123456789/19026Public bars in New Zealand traded from nine o'clock a.m. to six o'clock p.m. from Monday to Saturday between 1917 and 1967 despite the fact that demand was concentrated on five out of six trading days in the hour before closing. The statutory closing of bars at six o'clock p.m. in 1917 was initially a wartime regulation to restrict consumption of a narcotic; this paper suggests that it was extended because it was favoured by key interest groups namely trade unions hotel owners and prohibition organisations.pdfen-NZPermission to publish research outputs of the New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation has been granted to the Victoria University of Wellington Library. Refer to the permission letter in record: https://ir.wgtn.ac.nz/handle/123456789/18870closing hourstrade unionsText