IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/udt/wpecon/2015_3.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

How increasing tobacco prices affects the decision to start and quit smoking: evidence from Argentina

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Gonzalez-Rozada
  • Giselle Montamat

Abstract

We study empirically the role of cigarettes’ prices on smoking onset and quitting in Argentina, using a continuous-time split population model. The findings in this paper suggest that increasing cigarettes’ prices, using taxes, has a larger effect on the starting age of smoking than on the quitting age. In particular, at the mean starting age of 15 years an increase of 20% in real cigarettes’ prices is expected to delay smoking onset by 3 years. On the other hand, the same policy is less effective to reduce the duration of the habit because, while negative, the relationship between the duration of the smoking habit and the real price of cigarettes is weak. A policy recommendation that emerges from this evidence is that for people with a developed addiction a combination of an increment in taxes and other public health policies, like cessation therapies, could be implemented to accelerate the time of quitting smoking.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Gonzalez-Rozada & Giselle Montamat, 2015. "How increasing tobacco prices affects the decision to start and quit smoking: evidence from Argentina," Department of Economics Working Papers 2015_3, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.
    • Handle: RePEc:udt:wpecon:2015_3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.utdt.edu/download.php?fname=_143413942069013200.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William N. Evans & Matthew C. Farrelly, 1998. "The Compensating Behavior of Smokers: Taxes, Tar, and Nicotine," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(3), pages 578-595, Autumn.
    2. Michael P. Kidd & Sandra Hopkins, 2004. "The Hazards of Starting and Quitting Smoking: Some Australian Evidence," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 80(249), pages 177-192, June.
    3. Ramanan Laxminarayan & Anil Deolalikar, 2004. "Tobacco initiation, cessation, and change: evidence from Vietnam," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(12), pages 1191-1201, December.
    4. G. Guindon, 2014. "The impact of tobacco prices on smoking onset in Vietnam: duration analyses of retrospective data," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 15(1), pages 19-39, January.
    5. Glied, Sherry, 2002. "Youth tobacco control: reconciling theory and empirical evidence," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 117-135, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Martin Gonzalez-Rozada & Giselle Montamat, 2015. "How increasing tobacco prices affects the decision to start and quit smoking: evidence from Argentina," Department of Economics Working Papers wp201501, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.
    2. G. Emmanuel Guindon & Guillermo R. Paraje & Ricardo Chávez, 2018. "Prices, Inflation, And Smoking Onset: The Case Of Argentina," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(1), pages 424-445, January.
    3. Ali Palali & Jan C. Ours, 2019. "The impact of tobacco control policies on smoking initiation in eleven European countries," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(9), pages 1287-1301, December.
    4. van Ours, Jan C. & Palali, Ali, 2017. "The Impact of Tobacco Control Policies on Smoking Initiation in Europe," CEPR Discussion Papers 12201, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. G. Guindon, 2014. "The impact of tobacco prices on smoking onset in Vietnam: duration analyses of retrospective data," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 15(1), pages 19-39, January.
    6. cuong, nguyen, 2010. "Smoking behavior in Vietnam: demographic and socioeconomic determinants," MPRA Paper 36516, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Andrew Friedson & Moyan Li & Katherine Meckel & Daniel I. Rees & Daniel W. Sacks, 2024. "Exposure to cigarette taxes as a teenager and the persistence of smoking into adulthood," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(9), pages 1962-1988, September.
    8. Jan (J.C.) van Ours & Ali Palali, 2017. "The Impact of Tobacco Control Policies on Smoking Initiation in Europe," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 17-074/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    9. Rajeev Goel, 2007. "Costs of smoking and attempts to quit," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(7), pages 853-857.
    10. Cuong Viet Nguyen, 2012. "Demographic and Socio-economic Determinants of Smoking Behavior: Evidence from Vietnam," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(3), pages 2300-2312.
    11. Samuel Asare & Michal Stoklosa & Jeffrey Drope & Aidan Larsen, 2019. "Effects of Prices on Youth Cigarette Smoking and Tobacco Use Initiation in Ghana and Nigeria," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-14, August.
    12. Justin S. White & Hana Ross, 2015. "Smokers' Strategic Responses to Sin Taxes: Evidence from Panel Data in Thailand," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(2), pages 127-141, February.
    13. Pearl Bader & David Boisclair & Roberta Ferrence, 2011. "Effects of Tobacco Taxation and Pricing on Smoking Behavior in High Risk Populations: A Knowledge Synthesis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-22, October.
    14. Seonghoon Hong & Alan R. Collins, 2010. "The Impact Of Antismoking Policies In Korea On Quit Success And Smoking Intentions," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 28(4), pages 474-487, October.
    15. Irvine Ian J & Nguyen Hai V, 2011. "Toxic Choices: The Theory and Impact of Smoking Bans," Forum for Health Economics & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 14(1), pages 1-36, July.
    16. Fletcher, Jason M. & Frisvold, David E. & Tefft, Nathan, 2010. "The effects of soft drink taxes on child and adolescent consumption and weight outcomes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(11-12), pages 967-974, December.
    17. Nikolay Gospodinov & Ian Irvine, 2005. "A ‘long march’ perspective on tobacco use in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(2), pages 366-393, May.
    18. Kajal Lahiri & Xian Li, 2020. "Smoking Behavior of Older Adults: A Panel Data Analysis Using HRS," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 18(3), pages 495-523, September.
    19. Gabriel A. Picone & Frank Sloan & Justin G. Trogdon, 2004. "The effect of the tobacco settlement and smoking bans on alcohol consumption," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(10), pages 1063-1080, October.
    20. Anne Bretteville-Jensen, 2006. "Drug Demand – Initiation, Continuation and Quitting," De Economist, Springer, vol. 154(4), pages 491-516, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    smoking onset; quitting smoking; split population model; cigarettes’ prices and taxes; survival analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • C41 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:udt:wpecon:2015_3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: María Cecilia Lafuente (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deutdar.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.