An Exploratory Panel Data Analysis of Impacts of Cigarette

This study seeks to provide recent, i.e., updated, and new evidence on the impact of public policy on cigarette consumption using panel data. In particular, this exploratory study uses a state-level panel data-set to investigate the impact on per capita cigarette consumption in the U.S. of public policies not only in the form of cigarette excise taxes but also in the form of heretofore largely ignored public statutes that impose statewide bans on cigarette smoking in restaurants and bars. Naturally, the impacts of certain economic and non-economic (demographic) factors on cigarette are considered as well. The five-year panel spans the period from 2002 through 2006. The estimates in this study find that the higher the total per pack cigarette excise tax, the lower the aggregate volume of cigarettes consumed per capita, whereas statewide bans on cigarette smoking in restaurants and bars are found to reduce per capita cigarette smoking as well.