title: Does smoke cross the border? Cigarette tax avoidance in France.
abstract: This paper examines the impact on cigarette sales of the successive increases in cigarette prices in France from 2002 to 2004. Since the price differential between France and neighboring countries increased over the period in question, cross-border purchases became more financially attractive for smokers living near borders. Results from difference-in-differences estimates indicate that the decrease in cigarette sales observed in French border departments was around 20 % higher from 2004 to 2007 compared to non-border departments. The loss of fiscal revenue due to cross-border shopping since the tax increase amounts to 2 billion euros over the period 2002-2007. Our findings highlight the need for improved coordination of policies aimed at reducing tobacco consumption across European Union countries.
authors.affiliation: LEM (UMR 9221 CNRS), Université de Lille, 1 place Déliot, 59000, Lille, France. christian.benlakhdar@univ-lille2.fr.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ben Lakhdar
authors.affiliation: LEM (UMR 9221 CNRS), Université Catholique de Lille (Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Expérimentale and ISTC Strategies and Communication), 60 bd Vauban, BP109, 59016, Lille Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Nicolas Gérard
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Vaillant
authors.affiliation: LEMNA, Université de Nantes, BP52231, Chemin de la Censive du Tertre, 44322, Nantes Cedex, France.|Institut national d'études démographiques (INED), Paris, France.
authors.forename: François-Charles
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Wolff
mesh_terms: D003132:Commerce / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005062:European Union; D005602:France; D005843:Geography; D006291:Health Policy / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D008377:Maps as Topic; D017059:Models, Econometric; D012907:Smoking / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology; D013660:Taxes / Q000191:economics*; D062789:Tobacco Products / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Cigarette sales; Cross-border shopping; Difference-in-differences estimation