TY  - JOUR
AU  - Kostova,Deliana
AU  - Ross,Hana
AU  - Blecher,Evan
AU  - Markowitz,Sara
TI  - Prices and Cigarette Demand: Evidence from Youth Tobacco Use in Developing Countries
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15781
PY  - 2010
Y2  - February 2010
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15781
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15781.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Deliana Kostova
Department of Economics
Emory University
Atlanta, GA 30322
E-Mail: dkostov@emory.edu

Hana Ross
American Cancer Society
250 Williams Street
Atlanta, GA 30303
E-Mail: hana.ross@cancer.org

Evan Blecher
250 Williams Street
Atlanta, GA 30303
E-Mail: Evan.Blecher@cancer.org

Sara Markowitz
Department of Economics
Emory University
1602 Fishburne Dr.
Atlanta, GA 30322
Tel: (404) 712-8167
E-Mail: sara.markowitz@emory.edu
AB  - This paper estimates the impact of cigarette prices on youth smoking in lower-income countries using data from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS). Country-level heterogeneity is addressed with fixed effects and by directly controlling for confounding environmental factors such as local anti-smoking sentiment, cigarette advertising, anti-smoking media messages, and compliance with youth access restrictions. We find that cigarette price is an important determinant of both smoking participation and conditional demand. The estimated price elasticity of participation is -0.63. The likelihood of participation decreases with anti-smoking sentiment and increases with exposure to cigarette advertising. The estimated price elasticity of conditional cigarette demand is approximately -1.2. Neither anti-smoking sentiment, cigarette advertising, nor access restrictions have an impact on the intensity of smoking among current smokers, but exposure to anti-smoking media may reduce the number of cigarettes smoked.
ER  -