Is cigarette smoking in poorer nations highly sensitive to price? Evidence from Russia and China.
We examine cigarette demand in China and Russia using longitudinal micro-level household and community surveys. Previous developing-country price elasticity estimates of around -0.75 have been larger than United States estimates of about -0.4, but the former have relied primarily on aggregate data. In contrast, our micro-level price elasticity estimates in China and Russia range from 0 to -0.15. Thus, raising prices in poorer countries may not reduce smoking to the degree previously suggested.
Lance
Peter M
PM
Department of Economics, 107 Gardner Hall, CB 3305, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3305, USA. pmlanc@email.unc.edu
Akin
John S
JS
Dow
William H
WH
Loh
Chung-Ping
CP
D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000191:economics*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005249:Fees and Charges / Q000639:trends*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007250:Inflation, Economic; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017059:Models, Econometric; D012426:Russia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*