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Clean indoor air laws, addiction and cigarette smoking

Publication Source

Chaloupka, F.J. 1991

Publication Title

Applied Economics

Publication Type

Journal article

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Abstract

Cigarette demand equations, derived from the Becker and Murphy (1988) model of relational addiction are estimated which include alternative measures of state level clean indoor air laws. The laws have been the most widely used tool in the recent years of the anti-smoking campaign. Survey data taken from the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, augmented with county level cigarette prices and excise taxes and state level measures of restrictions on smoking, are used to estimate the demand equations. Clean indoor air laws are found to have a significant negative impact in average cigartte consumption.Increased restrictiveness of these laws, beyond some basic level, however, is not found to further reduce smoking. The effects of these restriction are found to differ across sexes. Average consumption among men is significantly reduced by the passage of the laws, whereas smoking among women is unaffected. Finally, cigarette prices are found of have a significant negative impact on consumption, with the impact of price limited to men.