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Health knowledge and smoking among South African women
Author(s) -
Jones Andrew M.,
Kirigia Joses M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
health economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1099-1050
pISSN - 1057-9230
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1050(199903)8:2<165::aid-hec423>3.0.co;2-6
Subject(s) - multivariate probit model , bivariate analysis , unobservable , probit model , ordered probit , order (exchange) , environmental health , economics , demographic economics , econometrics , actuarial science , medicine , statistics , mathematics , finance
While several studies of developed countries have attempted to understand individual smoking using economic models, no such studies have been conducted in South Africa. The purpose of this paper is to identify which factors influence individual South African women's choice to smoke cigarettes and their knowledge of the health risks of smoking. To allow for the implied correlation between the unobservable components of the reduced form equations for these health inputs the model is estimated as a bivariate probit. In order to identify those women who are most at risk of becoming smokers and those who are most likely to benefit from health education, the results show how the probability of being an uninformed non‐smoker or an uninformed smoker vary across different socio‐economic groups. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.