Does Falling Smoking Lead to Rising Obesity?
30 Pages Posted: 18 Aug 2005 Last revised: 19 May 2022
Date Written: July 2005
Abstract
The strong negative correlation over time between smoking rates and obesity have led some to suggest that reduced smoking is increasing weight gain in the U.S.. This conclusion is supported by the findings of Chou et al. (2004), who conclude that higher cigarette prices lead to increased body weight. We investigate this issue and find no evidence that reduced smoking leads to weight gain. Using the cigarette tax rather than the cigarette price and controlling for non-linear time effects, we find a negative effect of cigarette taxes on body weight, implying that reduced smoking leads to lower body weights. Yet our results, as well as Chou et al., imply implausibly large effects of smoking on body weight. Thus, we cannot confirm that falling smoking leads in a major way to rising obesity rates in the U.S.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
Why Have Americans Become More Obese?
By David M. Cutler, Edward L. Glaeser, ...
-
Why Have Americans Become More Obese?
By David M. Cutler, Edward L. Glaeser, ...
-
The Economic Reality of the Beauty Myth
By Susan L. Averett and Sanders Korenman
-
An Economic Analysis of Adult Obesity: Results from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
By Shin-yi Chou, Michael Grossman, ...
-
The Long-Run Growth in Obesity as a Function of Technological Change
By Tomas Philipson and Richard A. Posner
-
The Long-Run Growth in Obesity as a Function of Technological Change
By Richard A. Posner and Tomas Philipson
-
The Growth of Obesity and Technological Change: A Theoretical and Empirical Examination
-
Body Weight and Women&Apos;S Labor Market Outcomes
By John Cawley
-
Maternal Employment and Overweight Children
By Patricia M. Anderson, Kristin F. Butcher, ...
-
Maternal Employment and Overweight Children
By Kristin F. Butcher, Patricia M. Anderson, ...