title: Nicotine reduction as an increase in the unit price of cigarettes: a behavioral economics approach.
abstract: Urgent action is needed to reduce the harm caused by smoking. Product standards that reduce the addictiveness of cigarettes are now possible both in the U.S. and in countries party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Specifically, standards that required substantially reduced nicotine content in cigarettes could enable cessation in smokers and prevent future smoking among current non-smokers. Behavioral economics uses principles from the field of microeconomics to characterize how consumption of a reinforcer changes as a function of the unit price of that reinforcer (unit price=cost/reinforcer magnitude). A nicotine reduction policy might be considered an increase in the unit price of nicotine because smokers are paying more per unit of nicotine. This perspective allows principles from behavioral economics to be applied to nicotine reduction research questions, including how nicotine consumption, smoking behavior, use of other tobacco products, and use of other drugs of abuse are likely to be affected. This paper reviews the utility of this approach and evaluates the notion that a reduction in nicotine content is equivalent to a reduction in the reinforcement value of smoking-an assumption made by the unit price approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, USA. Electronic address: tgt4@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Tracy T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, USA; Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, USA.
authors.forename: Alan F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Sved
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: Dorothy K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Hatsukami
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, USA. Electronic address: edonny@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Eric C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Donny
mesh_terms: D003132:Commerce; D060909:Economics, Behavioral; D015438:Health Behavior; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D009538:Nicotine / Q000737:chemistry; D012907:Smoking / Q000191:economics*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods; D019460:Tobacco Industry; D062789:Tobacco Products / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration
chemical_list: D009538:Nicotine
keywords: Behavioral economics; Nicotine; Policy