A systems approach to the demand for alcohol and tobacco

Listed in:

• Product substitution
• Tax, price and tobacco use: Adults

Abstract

This paper adopts a systems approach to estimate budget share equations for four categories of alcoholic drinks and for tobacco, using quarterly expenditure data for the period 1964 to 1983. The emphasis is on the importance of the tolerance effects of addiction and on the smoker's participation decision in correctly specifying the model of demand. The model makes explicit recognition of a separate participation decision and the estimates suggest that there is something to be gained by introducing variables to indicate changes in the distribution of income and the demographic structure of the population.