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The effects of higher cigarette prices on tar and nicotine consumption in a cohort of adult smokers

Publication Source

Farrelly, M.C., Nimsch, C.T., Hyland, A. et al. 2004

Publication Title

Health Economics

Publication Type

Journal article

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Metadata

Region

The Americas

Economy status

High-income economies

Tags High-income economies, United States, The Americas, Journal article

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Abstract

The objective of this paper is to estimate the demand for tar and nicotine in cigarettes as a function of cigarette prices in a cohort of cigarette 11,966 smokers followed for 5 years. Data for the analysis come from a longitudinal telephone survey of 11,966 smokers who were interviewed in 1988 and 1993 as part of the Community Intervention Trial for Smoking Cessation (COMMIT). Separate models are estimated for three age groups to account for differences in levels of addiction and brand loyalty across age. We found that smokers respond to higher cigarette prices by reducing the number of cigarettes smoked per day but also by switching to cigarettes that are higher in tar and nicotine per cigarette.