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Mtenga EL, Pesko MF. The effect of vertical identification card laws on teenage tobacco and alcohol use. HEALTH ECONOMICS 2024. [PMID: 39020467 DOI: 10.1002/hec.4881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 03/22/2024] [Accepted: 06/30/2024] [Indexed: 07/19/2024]
Abstract
We study the impact of vertical identification card laws, which changed the orientation of driver's licenses and state identification cards from horizontal to vertical for those under 21 years, on teenage tobacco and alcohol use. We study this question using four national datasets (pooled national and state Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, National Youth Tobacco Survey, Current Population Survey to Tobacco Use Supplements, and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System). We improve previous databases of vertical ID law implementation by using original archival research to identify the exact date of the law change. We estimate models using standard two-way fixed effects and stacked difference-in-differences that avoid bias from dynamic and heterogeneous treatment effects. Using data through 2021, we do not find evidence of reductions in teenage tobacco and alcohol use. While these laws reduce retail-based purchasing, they also increase social sourcing, thus leading to no net impact on use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica Louis Mtenga
- Department of Economics, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Michael F Pesko
- Department of Economics, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA
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Abouk R, Courtemanche C, Dave D, Feng B, Friedman AS, Maclean JC, Pesko MF, Sabia JJ, Safford S. Intended and unintended effects of e-cigarette taxes on youth tobacco use. JOURNAL OF HEALTH ECONOMICS 2023; 87:102720. [PMID: 36565585 PMCID: PMC9879683 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2021] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Over the past decade, rising youth use of e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) has contributed to aggressive regulation by state and local governments. Between 2010 and mid-2019, ten states and two large counties adopted ENDS taxes. We use two large national surveys (Monitoring the Future and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System) to estimate the impact of ENDS taxes on youth tobacco use. We find that ENDS taxes reduce youth ENDS consumption, with estimated ENDS tax elasticities of -0.06 to -0.21. However, we estimate sizable positive cigarette cross-tax effects, suggesting economic substitution between cigarettes and ENDS for youth. These substitution effects are particularly large for frequent cigarette smoking. We conclude that the unintended effects of ENDS taxation may considerably undercut or even outweigh any public health gains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rahi Abouk
- Department of Economics, Finance, and Global Business, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ, United States
| | - Charles Courtemanche
- Department of Economics, Gatton College of Business and Economics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States; National Bureau of Economics Research, Cambridge, MA, United States; Institute for Labor Studies, Bonn, Germany
| | - Dhaval Dave
- National Bureau of Economics Research, Cambridge, MA, United States; Institute for Labor Studies, Bonn, Germany; Department of Economics, Bentley University, Waltham, MA, United States
| | - Bo Feng
- American Institutes for Research, Columbia, MD, United States
| | - Abigail S Friedman
- Department of Health Policy & Management, Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Johanna Catherine Maclean
- National Bureau of Economics Research, Cambridge, MA, United States; Institute for Labor Studies, Bonn, Germany; Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University, Arlington, VA, United States
| | - Michael F Pesko
- Institute for Labor Studies, Bonn, Germany; Department of Economics, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, United States.
| | - Joseph J Sabia
- Institute for Labor Studies, Bonn, Germany; Center for Health Economics & Policy Studies, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Samuel Safford
- Center for Health Economics & Policy Studies, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, United States; Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States
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