title: The economic effect of smoke-free restaurant policies on restaurant business in Massachusetts.
abstract: The objective of the study was to determine if local smoke-free restaurant policies in Massachusetts affected restaurant sales. The authors used a pre-/post-quasi-experimental design to compare town-level meals tax data before and after the imposition of local smoke-free restaurant policies. Data for 235 towns (including 32 adopting communities) were entered into a fixed effects regression model to estimate changes in restaurant sales over time. The study failed to find a statistically significant effect of local smoke-free policies on restaurant business. It provides evidence that local smoke-free policies do not cause a large decline in communities' restaurant industries.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Economics Research, Waltham, MA, USA.
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Bartosch
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Pope
mesh_terms: D006291:Health Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D008404:Massachusetts; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012147:Restaurants / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012907:Smoking / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D013660:Taxes; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution