TY - JOUR
T1 - PRICES, INFLATION, AND SMOKING ONSET
T2 - THE CASE OF ARGENTINA
AU - Guindon, G. Emmanuel
AU - Paraje, Guillermo R.
AU - Chávez, Ricardo
N1 - Funding Information:
∗We thank Daniel Araya, Jorge Vives, and Mathieu Poirier for their research assistance and K. Stephen Brown, Frank J. Chaloupka, David Feeny, Christina Hackett, Emily McGirr, and members of McMaster University’s Polinomics Group for their comments and discussion. Funding: International Development Research Centre (grants 106836-001 and 107206-001) and the Canadian Cancer Society (grant 702176 to GEG). GEG holds the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis (CHEPA)/Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) Chair in Health Equity, an endowed Chair funded in part by the MOHLTC. The funders had no role in the study design, analysis, interpretation, writing of the report, or in the decision to submit this article for publication. Guindon: Assistant Professor, Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis; Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact; Department of Eco-nomics, McMaster University, Hamilton L8S 4K1, Canada. Phone +1 905 525 9140x22879, Fax +1 905 522 9507, E-mail emmanuel.guindon@mcmaster.ca Paraje: Professor, Escuela de Negocios, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile. Phone +56 2 2331 1380, Fax +56 2 2278 4413, E-mail guillermo.paraje@uai.cl Chávez: Economist, Banco Central del Ecuador, Quito 170409, Ecuador. Phone +593 2393 8600, Fax +593 2393 8600, E-mail rechavez@bce.ec
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Authors. Economic Inquiry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Western Economic Association International.
PY - 2018/1
Y1 - 2018/1
N2 - This article examines the effect of tobacco prices on the decision to start smoking in Argentina. Argentina is an interesting case to explore given its high smoking rates, its recent experience with periods of very high and hyperinflation, and the mixed evidence of the effect of prices on smoking onset, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. We used data from four cycles of two large national surveys conducted between 2005 and 2011 and discrete-time hazard models. We found that tobacco prices had a statistically significant and fairly large impact on the hazard of smoking onset, and these findings were robust to alternative specifications. We also found that prices had little effect on the hazards of smoking onset during periods of hyper- and very high inflation, which provide some support for the notion that prices lose their informational role in such periods. Governments need to be cognizant that their most important policy tool to reduce tobacco use—taxes that increase real tobacco prices—is likely no longer effective during these times. (JEL C41, H20, I12, I18).
AB - This article examines the effect of tobacco prices on the decision to start smoking in Argentina. Argentina is an interesting case to explore given its high smoking rates, its recent experience with periods of very high and hyperinflation, and the mixed evidence of the effect of prices on smoking onset, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. We used data from four cycles of two large national surveys conducted between 2005 and 2011 and discrete-time hazard models. We found that tobacco prices had a statistically significant and fairly large impact on the hazard of smoking onset, and these findings were robust to alternative specifications. We also found that prices had little effect on the hazards of smoking onset during periods of hyper- and very high inflation, which provide some support for the notion that prices lose their informational role in such periods. Governments need to be cognizant that their most important policy tool to reduce tobacco use—taxes that increase real tobacco prices—is likely no longer effective during these times. (JEL C41, H20, I12, I18).
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85035762453&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/ecin.12490
DO - 10.1111/ecin.12490
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85035762453
SN - 0095-2583
VL - 56
SP - 424
EP - 445
JO - Economic Inquiry
JF - Economic Inquiry
IS - 1
ER -