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Why Do Europeans Smoke More than Americans?

In: Developments in the Economics of Aging

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  • David M. Cutler
  • Edward L. Glaeser

Abstract

While Americans are less healthy than Europeans along some dimensions (like obesity), Americans are significantly less likely to smoke than their European counterparts. This difference emerged in the 1970s and it is biggest among the most educated. The puzzle becomes larger once we account for cigarette prices and anti-smoking regulations, which are both higher in Europe. There is a nonmonotonic relationship between smoking and income; among richer countries and people, higher incomes are associated with less smoking. This can account for about one-fifth of the U.S./Europe difference. Almost one-half of the smoking difference appears to be the result of differences in beliefs about the health effects of smoking; Europeans are generally less likely to think that cigarette smoking is harmful.
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Suggested Citation

  • David M. Cutler & Edward L. Glaeser, 2009. "Why Do Europeans Smoke More than Americans?," NBER Chapters, in: Developments in the Economics of Aging, pages 255-282, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:11319
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    1. Anarchy in the U.K.
      by noemail@noemail.org (noemail@noemail.org (Stephen J. Dubner) in Freakonomics on 2006-04-05 05:15:59

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    Cited by:

    1. Pierre-Carl Michaud & Dana Goldman & Darius Lakdawalla & Adam Gailey & Yuhui Zheng, 2009. "International Differences in Longevity and Health and their Economic Consequences," NBER Working Papers 15235, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Glaeser, Edward L. & Ujhelyi, Gergely, 2010. "Regulating misinformation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(3-4), pages 247-257, April.
    3. Fred Pampel & Justin Denney, 2011. "Cross-National Sources of Health Inequality: Education and Tobacco Use in the World Health Survey," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(2), pages 653-674, May.
    4. Brunello, Giorgio & Michaud, Pierre-Carl & Sanz-de-Galdeano, Anna, 2008. "The Rise in Obesity across the Atlantic: An Economic Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 3529, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. L. Pieroni & L. Salmasi, 2015. "Does Cigarette Smoking Affect Body Weight? Causal Estimates from the Clean Indoor Air Law Discontinuity," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 82(328), pages 671-704, October.
    6. Odermatt, Reto & Stutzer, Alois, 2015. "Smoking bans, cigarette prices and life satisfaction," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 176-194.
    7. Carnazza, Giovanni & Liberati, Paolo & Resce, Giuliano, 2023. "Income-related inequality in smoking habits: A comparative assessment in the European Union," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 34-41.
    8. Liesbeth Colen & Johan Swinnen, 2016. "Economic Growth, Globalisation and Beer Consumption," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(1), pages 186-207, February.
    9. Cornelia Betsch & Robert Böhm & Collins O. Airhihenbuwa & Robb Butler & Gretchen B. Chapman & Niels Haase & Benedikt Herrmann & Tasuku Igarashi & Shinobu Kitayama & Lars Korn & Ülla-Karin Nurm & Ber, 2016. "Improving Medical Decision Making and Health Promotion through Culture-Sensitive Health Communication," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 36(7), pages 811-833, October.
    10. Park, Cheolsung & Kang, Changhui, 2008. "Does education induce healthy lifestyle?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1516-1531, December.
    11. Odermatt, Reto & Stutzer, Alois, 2018. "Tobacco Control Policies and Smoking Behavior in Europe: More Than Trends?," Working papers 2018/24, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    12. Hendrik Jürges, 2009. "Healthy Minds In Healthy Bodies: An International Comparison Of Education‐Related Inequality In Physical Health Among Older Adults," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 56(3), pages 296-320, July.
    13. Brunello, Giorgio & Michaud, Pierre-Carl & Sanz-de-Galdeano, Anna, 2008. "The Rise in Obesity across the Atlantic: An Economic Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 3529, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    14. Dimitris Christelis & Anna Sanz-de-Galdeano, 2009. "Smoking Persistence in Europe: A Semi-Parametric Panel Data Analysis with Selectivity," Working Papers 403, Barcelona School of Economics.
    15. Dimitrios Christelis & Anna Sanz-de-Galdeano, 2009. "Smoking Persistence Across Countries: An Analysis Using Semi-Parametric Dynamic Panel Data Models with Selectivity," CSEF Working Papers 236, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    16. Michael Kvasnicka & Thomas Siedler & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2018. "The health effects of smoking bans: Evidence from German hospitalization data," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(11), pages 1738-1753, November.
    17. Silvia Balia, 2014. "Survival expectations, subjective health and smoking: evidence from SHARE," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 753-780, September.
    18. Anna Sanz de Galdeano, 2007. "An Economic Analysis of Obesity in Europe: Health, Medical Care and Absenteeism Costs," Working Papers 2007-38, FEDEA.
    19. Suhrcke, Marc & Urban, Dieter M. & Moesgaard Iburg, Kim & Schwappach, David & Boluarte, Till & McKee, Martin, 2007. "The economic benefits of health and prevention in a high-income country: the example of Germany," Discussion Papers, Research Group Public Health SP I 2007-302, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    20. Christelis, Dimitris & Sanz-de-Galdeano, Anna, 2011. "Smoking persistence across countries: A panel data analysis," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 1077-1093.
    21. Pampel, Fred C. & Denney, Justin T. & Krueger, Patrick M., 2012. "Obesity, SES, and economic development: A test of the reversal hypothesis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(7), pages 1073-1081.
    22. Samuel H. Preston & Jessica Y. Ho, 2009. "Low Life Expectancy in the United States: Is the Health Care System at Fault?," NBER Working Papers 15213, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Michaud, Pierre-Carl & Goldman, Dana & Lakdawalla, Darius & Gailey, Adam & Zheng, Yuhui, 2011. "Differences in health between Americans and Western Europeans: Effects on longevity and public finance," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 254-263, July.
    24. Edward L. Glaeser, 2012. "The Political Risks of Fighting Market Failures: Subversion, Populism and the Government Sponsored Enterprises," NBER Working Papers 18112, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • P5 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems

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