Donald S. Kenkel, Dean R. Lillard, and Feng Liu. Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University, MVR Hall, Ithaca, NY 14850
Objective: To examine how the decision to start and the decision to stop smoking are affected by changes in the price of cigarettes and the taxes levied on cigarettes.
Methods: We combine data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) with historical data on tobacco control policies in China to first describe patterns in life-course smoking behavior of Chinese men and women. We then disentangle the commonly used smoking prevalence rate into its component parts – the rate of smoking initiation and the rate of smoking cessation and analyze decisions to start or quit smoking as a function of tobacco control policies in China.
Results: There was a negative correlation between historical cigarette price and smoking initiation in Chinese men.
