TY  - JOUR
AU  - Gruber,Jonathan
AU  - Frakes,Michael
TI  - Does Falling Smoking Lead to Rising Obesity?
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11483
PY  - 2005
Y2  - July 2005
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11483
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11483.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Jonathan Gruber
MIT Department of Economics
E52-355
50 Memorial Drive
Cambridge, MA 02142-1347
Tel: 617/253-8892
Fax: 617/253-1330
E-Mail: gruberj@mit.edu

Michael Frakes
E-Mail: mdfrakes@mit.edu
M2  - featured in NBER digest on 2005-07-11
AB  - The strong negative correlation over time between smoking rates and obesity have led some to suggest that reduced smoking is increasing weight gain in the U.S..  This conclusion is supported by the findings of Chou et al. (2004), who conclude that higher cigarette prices lead to increased body weight.  We investigate this issue and find no evidence that reduced smoking leads to weight gain.  Using the cigarette tax rather than the cigarette price and controlling for non-linear time effects, we find a negative effect of cigarette taxes on body weight, implying that reduced smoking leads to lower body weights.  Yet our results, as well as Chou et al., imply implausibly large effects of smoking on body weight.  Thus, we cannot confirm that falling smoking leads in a major way to rising obesity rates in the U.S.
ER  -