Exposure to cigarette taxes as a teenager and the persistence of smoking into adulthood Articles uri icon

authors

  • Friedson, Andrew
  • Li, Moyan
  • Meckel, Katherine
  • REES, DANIEL IRA
  • Sacks, Daniel W.

publication date

  • September 2024

start page

  • 1962

end page

  • 1988

issue

  • 9

volume

  • 33

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 1057-9230

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1099-1050

abstract

  • Are teenage and adult smoking causally related? Recent anti-tobacco policy is predicated on the assumption that preventing teenagers from smoking will ensure that fewer adults smoke, but direct evidence in support of this assumption is scant. Using data from three nationally representative sources and instrumenting for teenage smoking with cigarette taxes experienced at ages 14–17, we document a strong positive relationship between teenage and adult smoking: deterring 10 teenagers from smoking through raising cigarette taxes roughly translates into 5 fewer adult smokers. We conclude that efforts to reduce teenage smoking can have long-lasting consequences on smoking participation and, presumably, health.

subjects

  • Politics
  • Psychology
  • Statistics

keywords

  • cigarettes; health behaviors; smoking; taxes