The impact of cigarette tax increases on men’s smoking behavior

Evidence from a 2015 cigarette tax hike in South Korea

Bibliographic Data

ID12008698
AuthorsDahye Kim (0000-0002-5238-7361, Korea University), Haeil Jung (0000-0002-0489-1408, Korea University, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume57
Issue4
Pages485-507
Publication date2019-03-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Social Science Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0362-3319 • E-ISSN: 1873-5355
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1016/j.soscij.2019.02.004
OpenAlexW2925269527
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited37

This study examines whether a 114% hike in the cigarette tax in South Korea in 2015 deterred men's smoking behavior including: smoking status in the present year, average number of cigarettes per day, willingness to quit smoking within six months, and smoking status change over two years. Using the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS) which is large-scale panel data, this paper finds that smoking rates dropped significantly in the post-tax period as supported in other papers. In further examination of people's smoking status change over two years, this paper finds that a significant number of smokers became nonsmokers after the tax increase, while the number of new smokers became smaller. It is also found that continuous smokers smoked fewer cigarettes in the post-tax period. Right after the tax hike, people's willingness to quit smoking increased in 2015, but this did not result in a further decline in smoking rates in the following year. The deterrent impact in 2015 was observed with a similar degree among various expenditure, age and regional groups

Cigarette smoking · Economics · Environmental health · Panel data · Population · Quit smoking · Smoking cessation · Smoking prevalence · Welfare · Air Quality and Health Impacts · Demography · Medicine · Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior · Smoking Behavior and Cessation

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