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Tobacco Use, Taxation and Self Control in Adolescence

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  • Jason M. Fletcher
  • Partha Deb
  • Jody L. Sindelar

Abstract

Recent literature has suggested that higher taxes on addictive goods could increase welfare by assisting individuals with self control problems and trouble resisting 'temptation'. In contrast, if individuals continue to use despite increased prices, taxation may serve to reduce the welfare of these individuals while providing no benefits in managing self control nor mitigating externalities. We use data on adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine the impact of tobacco taxes on smoking. To account for unobserved heterogeneity in response to taxes we estimate finite mixture models, positing two types of individuals with differential responses to taxes. We find evidence of differential price elasticity for tobacco use across the adolescents groups, and show that individuals with low self control or high discount rates are largely unresponsive to cigarette price. Those who have the least willpower may need the most help in quitting but are unresponsive to taxes, suggesting that policies other than taxation may be needed to reduce adolescent tobacco use.

Suggested Citation

  • Jason M. Fletcher & Partha Deb & Jody L. Sindelar, 2009. "Tobacco Use, Taxation and Self Control in Adolescence," NBER Working Papers 15130, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15130
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sofie Kragh Pedersen & Alexander K. Koch & Julia Nafziger, 2014. "Who Wants Paternalism?," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(S1), pages 147-166, December.
    2. Odermatt, Reto & Stutzer, Alois, 2015. "Smoking bans, cigarette prices and life satisfaction," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 176-194.
    3. Jason M Fletcher, 2012. "Why Have Tobacco Control Policies Stalled? Using Genetic Moderation to Examine Policy Impacts," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(12), pages 1-6, December.
    4. Michael R. Richards & Joachim Marti & Johanna Catherine Maclean & Jason Fletcher & Donald Kenkel, 2017. "Tobacco Control, Medicaid Coverage, and the Demand for Smoking Cessation Drugs," American Journal of Health Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(4), pages 528-549, Fall.
    5. Chih‐Sheng Hsieh & Hans van Kippersluis, 2018. "Smoking initiation: Peers and personality," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 9(2), pages 825-863, July.
    6. Erik Nesson, 2012. "The Distributional Effects of Tobacco Control Policies On Adult Smoking Behavior," Working Papers 201207, Ball State University, Department of Economics, revised Jun 2012.
    7. Battaglini, Marco & Díaz, Carlos & Patacchini, Eleonora, 2017. "Self-control and peer groups: An empirical analysis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 240-254.
    8. Patacchini, Eleonora & Arduini, Tiziano, 2016. "Residential choices of young Americans," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 69-81.
    9. Padmaja Ayyagari & Partha Deb & Jason Fletcher & William Gallo & Jody L. Sindelar, 2013. "Understanding Heterogeneity In Price Elasticities In The Demand For Alcohol For Older Individuals," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(1), pages 89-105, January.
    10. Ian Irvine & William Sims, 2012. "A Taxing Dilemma: Assessing the Impact of Tax and Price Changes on the Tobacco Market," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 350, May.
    11. Marti, Joachim, 2012. "A best–worst scaling survey of adolescents' level of concern for health and non-health consequences of smoking," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 87-97.
    12. Sunday Azagba & Mesbah Sharaf, 2011. "Cigarette Taxes and Smoking Participation: Evidence from Recent Tax Increases in Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-18, May.
    13. Holger Strulik, 2019. "Limited self‐control and longevity," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 57-64, January.
    14. Josten, Cecily & Lordan, Grace, 2020. "The interaction between personality and health policy: Empirical evidence from the UK smoking bans," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    15. Ian Irvine & William Sims, 2014. "The simple analytics of tobacco taxation with illegal supply," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(4), pages 1153-1172, November.
    16. Sunday Azagba & Mesbah Sharaf, 2011. "The effect of job stress on smoking and alcohol consumption," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-14, December.
    17. Erik Nesson, 2017. "Heterogeneity in Smokers' Responses to Tobacco Control Policies," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 206-225, February.
    18. Jason Fletcher & Norma Padrón, 2016. "The effects of teenage childbearing on adult soft skills development," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(3), pages 883-910, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I0 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

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