Premium
The Impact of Smoking Bans on Smoking and Consumer Behavior: Quasi‐Experimental Evidence from Switzerland
Author(s) -
Boes Stefan,
Marti Joachim,
Maclean Johanna Catherine
Publication year - 2015
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/hec.3108
Subject(s) - enforcement , unintended consequences , smoking ban , public health , addiction , environmental health , consumer behaviour , business , exploit , advertising , public economics , psychology , medicine , economics , political science , law , psychiatry , nursing , computer security , computer science
In this paper, we exploit the progressive implementation of smoking bans in public venues at the state level in Switzerland to evaluate both the direct effects on smoking and the potential unintended consequences of these legislations on consumer behaviors as measured by visiting restaurants/bars and discos (‘going out’). Our results indicate that public venue smoking bans in Switzerland reduce smoking rates, but the findings do not emerge until 1 year following the ban. This pattern of results is consistent with delays in ban enforcement on the part of business owners, difficulties in changing addictive behaviors such as smoking, and/or learning on the part of smokers. We find evidence that smoking bans influence going‐out behavior and there is substantial heterogeneity across venue and consumer characteristics. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.