title: Tax revenue in Mississippi communities following implementation of smoke-free ordinances: an examination of tourism and economic development tax revenues.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke. More than 60 Mississippi communities have passed smoke-free ordinances in the past six years. Opponents claim that these ordinances harm local businesses.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Mississippi law allows municipalities to place a tourism and economic development (TED) tax on local restaurants and hotels/motels. The objective of this study is to examine the impact of these ordinances on TED tax revenues.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study applies a pre/post quasi-experimental design to compare TED tax revenue before and after implementing ordinances.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Descriptive analyses indicated that inflation-adjusted tax revenues increased during the 12 months following implementation of smoke-free ordinances while there was no change in aggregated control communities. Multivariate fixed-effects analyses found no statistically significant effect of smoke-free ordinances on hospitality tax revenue.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No evidence was found that smoke-free ordinances have an adverse effect on the local hospitality industry.
authors.affiliation: Mississippi State University, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McMillen
authors.forename: Signe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shackelford
mesh_terms: D057217:Economic Development; D006801:Humans; D008922:Mississippi; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012147:Restaurants / Q000191:economics; D061845:Smoke-Free Policy / Q000191:economics*; D012907:Smoking / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D013660:Taxes / Q000191:economics*; D014195:Travel / Q000191:economics