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RISK BELIEFS AND SMOKING BEHAVIOR
Author(s) -
VISCUSI W. KIP,
HAKES JAHN K
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2007.00079.x
Subject(s) - life expectancy , cigarette smoking , lung cancer , smoke , demography , quit smoking , environmental health , medicine , economics , psychology , actuarial science , smoking cessation , population , sociology , geography , oncology , meteorology , pathology
We analyze smoking risk beliefs and smoking behavior using individual data from 1997 for the United States and 1998 for Massachusetts. Smokers and adults more generally overestimate the lung cancer risks of smoking and the mortality risks and life expectancy loss. Higher risk beliefs decrease the probability of starting to smoke and increase the probability of quitting among those who begin. Better educated smokers have lower and more accurate risk beliefs, but education decreases the probability of smoking. Higher state cigarette taxes correlate with risk beliefs but not with smoking status. The uninsured are especially likely to remain current smokers. ( JEL I12, I18, D80)