Impact of cigarette taxes on demand for cigarettes

A number of studies have examined the effect of cigarette taxes on retail prices. When those studies conclude that increases in cigarette and other tobacco taxes would certainly result in a higher price for these products, differences exist in the estimated magnitude of the increase in retail prices for a give level of tax increases. Early studies concluded that pricing behaviour of the cigarette industry was similar to that of firms in a competitive industry in spite of its oligopolistic structure, thus cigarette taxes were fully passed to the price of cigarettes at the retail level. Recent studies, which accounted for the dynamic nature of an oligopolistic industry, or modelling the demand and supply for cigarettes simultaneously, however, found that cigarette prices were increased by more than amount of the tax increase.

Large Meta-Analysis Purports to Find Huge Effect of Smokefree Laws

In the largest meta-analysis to date of studies examining the effect of smoking bans on heart attack admissions, a paper published this week in the journal Circulation concludes that smoking bans lead to an immediate 15% decline in heart attack admissions or deaths. The typical follow-up period in the reviewed studies was approximately one year. Thus, the paper is concluding that smoking bans produce a 15% decline in heart attacks in the first year following implementation of these bans. Furthermore, the paper argues that the observed decline is due to a reduction in secondhand smoke exposure.

n What Passes for Science in Tobacco Control

A study published in the journal Preventive Medicine in 2011 purported to demonstrate that a tobacco-free campus policy led to a decrease in smoking among students at Indiana University.

(See: Seo D-C, Macy JT, Torabi MR, Middlestadt SE. The effect of a smoke-free campus policy on college students' smoking behaviors and attitudes. Preventive Medicine 2011; 53:347-352.)

The study was a quasi-experiment, using a repeated cross-section design with a comparison group.