Intended and unintended effects of e-cigarette taxes on youth tobacco use

Rahi Abouk; Charles Courtemanche; Dhaval Dave; Bo Feng; Abigail S. Friedman; Johanna Catherine Maclean; Michael F. Pesko; Joseph J. Sabia; Samuel Safford

doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102720

Intended and unintended effects of e-cigarette taxes on youth tobacco use

Rahi Abouk, Charles Courtemanche, Dhaval Dave, Bo Feng, Abigail S. Friedman, Johanna Catherine Maclean, Michael F. Pesko, Joseph J. Sabia, Samuel Safford

Economics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Over the past decade, rising youth use of e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) has contributed to aggressive regulation by state and local governments. Between 2010 and mid-2019, ten states and two large counties adopted ENDS taxes. We use two large national surveys (Monitoring the Future and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System) to estimate the impact of ENDS taxes on youth tobacco use. We find that ENDS taxes reduce youth ENDS consumption, with estimated ENDS tax elasticities of -0.06 to -0.21. However, we estimate sizable positive cigarette cross-tax effects, suggesting economic substitution between cigarettes and ENDS for youth. These substitution effects are particularly large for frequent cigarette smoking. We conclude that the unintended effects of ENDS taxation may considerably undercut or even outweigh any public health gains.

Original language	English
Article number	102720
Journal	Journal of Health Economics
Volume	87
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102720
State	Published - Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Author order is alphabetic and lead authorship is shared among all the authors. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01DA045016 (PI: Michael Pesko), R01DA039968 (PI: Dhaval Dave), and an Evidence for Action grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (grant #74869 ; PI: Friedman). Dr. Sabia acknowledges support from San Diego State University's Center for Health Economics & Policy Studies (CHEPS), Dr. Courtemanche acknowledges support from the University of Kentucky's Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise, and Dr. Abouk acknowledges support from William Paterson University's Cannabis Research Institute. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of any funders.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

Cigarettes
E-cigarettes
Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS)
Smoking
Taxes
Vaping
Youth

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Health Policy
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102720

Cite this

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title = "Intended and unintended effects of e-cigarette taxes on youth tobacco use",

abstract = "Over the past decade, rising youth use of e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) has contributed to aggressive regulation by state and local governments. Between 2010 and mid-2019, ten states and two large counties adopted ENDS taxes. We use two large national surveys (Monitoring the Future and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System) to estimate the impact of ENDS taxes on youth tobacco use. We find that ENDS taxes reduce youth ENDS consumption, with estimated ENDS tax elasticities of -0.06 to -0.21. However, we estimate sizable positive cigarette cross-tax effects, suggesting economic substitution between cigarettes and ENDS for youth. These substitution effects are particularly large for frequent cigarette smoking. We conclude that the unintended effects of ENDS taxation may considerably undercut or even outweigh any public health gains.",

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note = "Funding Information: Author order is alphabetic and lead authorship is shared among all the authors. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01DA045016 (PI: Michael Pesko), R01DA039968 (PI: Dhaval Dave), and an Evidence for Action grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (grant #74869 ; PI: Friedman). Dr. Sabia acknowledges support from San Diego State University's Center for Health Economics & Policy Studies (CHEPS), Dr. Courtemanche acknowledges support from the University of Kentucky's Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise, and Dr. Abouk acknowledges support from William Paterson University's Cannabis Research Institute. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of any funders. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Elsevier B.V.",

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AU - Abouk, Rahi

AU - Courtemanche, Charles

AU - Dave, Dhaval

AU - Feng, Bo

AU - Friedman, Abigail S.

AU - Maclean, Johanna Catherine

AU - Pesko, Michael F.

AU - Sabia, Joseph J.

AU - Safford, Samuel

N1 - Funding Information: Author order is alphabetic and lead authorship is shared among all the authors. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01DA045016 (PI: Michael Pesko), R01DA039968 (PI: Dhaval Dave), and an Evidence for Action grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (grant #74869 ; PI: Friedman). Dr. Sabia acknowledges support from San Diego State University's Center for Health Economics & Policy Studies (CHEPS), Dr. Courtemanche acknowledges support from the University of Kentucky's Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise, and Dr. Abouk acknowledges support from William Paterson University's Cannabis Research Institute. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of any funders. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2023/1

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N2 - Over the past decade, rising youth use of e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) has contributed to aggressive regulation by state and local governments. Between 2010 and mid-2019, ten states and two large counties adopted ENDS taxes. We use two large national surveys (Monitoring the Future and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System) to estimate the impact of ENDS taxes on youth tobacco use. We find that ENDS taxes reduce youth ENDS consumption, with estimated ENDS tax elasticities of -0.06 to -0.21. However, we estimate sizable positive cigarette cross-tax effects, suggesting economic substitution between cigarettes and ENDS for youth. These substitution effects are particularly large for frequent cigarette smoking. We conclude that the unintended effects of ENDS taxation may considerably undercut or even outweigh any public health gains.

AB - Over the past decade, rising youth use of e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) has contributed to aggressive regulation by state and local governments. Between 2010 and mid-2019, ten states and two large counties adopted ENDS taxes. We use two large national surveys (Monitoring the Future and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System) to estimate the impact of ENDS taxes on youth tobacco use. We find that ENDS taxes reduce youth ENDS consumption, with estimated ENDS tax elasticities of -0.06 to -0.21. However, we estimate sizable positive cigarette cross-tax effects, suggesting economic substitution between cigarettes and ENDS for youth. These substitution effects are particularly large for frequent cigarette smoking. We conclude that the unintended effects of ENDS taxation may considerably undercut or even outweigh any public health gains.

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Intended and unintended effects of e-cigarette taxes on youth tobacco use

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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