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

64 Scopus citations

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

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.

Funding

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.

Funders	Funder number
Evidence for Action
University of Kentucky's Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise
William Paterson University's Cannabis Research Institute
National Institutes of Health (NIH)	R01DA039968, R01DA045016
Author National Institute on Drug Abuse DA031791 Mark J Ferris National Institute on Drug Abuse DA006634 Mark J Ferris National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism AA026117 Mark J Ferris National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism AA028162 Elizabeth G Pitts National Institute of General Medical Sciences GM102773 Elizabeth G Pitts Peter McManus Charitable Trust Mark J Ferris National Institute on Drug Abuse
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation	74869
San Diego State University

UN SDGs

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

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

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

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.",

keywords = "Cigarettes, E-cigarettes, Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), Smoking, Taxes, Vaping, Youth",

author = "Rahi Abouk and Charles Courtemanche and Dhaval Dave and Bo Feng and Friedman, \{Abigail S.\} and Maclean, \{Johanna Catherine\} and Pesko, \{Michael F.\} and Sabia, \{Joseph J.\} and Samuel Safford",

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year = "2023",

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doi = "10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102720",

language = "English",

volume = "87",

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T1 - Intended and unintended effects of e-cigarette taxes on youth tobacco use

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

PY - 2023/1

Y1 - 2023/1

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.

KW - Cigarettes

KW - E-cigarettes

KW - Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS)

KW - Smoking

KW - Taxes

KW - Vaping

KW - Youth

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85144500764

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85144500764#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102720

DO - 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102720

M3 - Article

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AN - SCOPUS:85144500764

SN - 0167-6296

VL - 87

JO - Journal of Health Economics

JF - Journal of Health Economics

M1 - 102720

ER -

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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Cite this