The Rise in Female Smoking in Russia: What to Do?

Abstract

Using the latest data (2009) and one historic year (2000) from a Russian nationally representative household survey, a tobit demand model is estimated to examine influences on both the decision to smoke and the quantity of cigarettes bought by Russian women of working age over the past decade. Our results suggest that better educated women smoke significantly less. The estimated price elasticity of women’s demand for cigarettes (-0.541) implies that a moderate excise or “sin” tax on cigarettes combined with rising female education levels could effectively halt the recent rise in female cigarette consumption.

Keywords: smoking, demand for cigarettes, Russia, transnational tobacco companies

JEL Classification: I01, P02, R02