Impact of Comprehensive Smoking Bans on the Health of Infants and Children / Kerry Anne McGeary, Dhaval M. Dave, Brandy J. Lipton, Timothy Roeper.

By:

McGeary, Kerry Anne

Contributor(s):

Material type: Text

TextSeries: Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) ; no. w23995.Publication details: Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2017.Description: 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white)Subject(s):

Online resources:

Available additional physical forms:

Hardcopy version available to institutional subscribers

Abstract: As evidence of the negative effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has mounted, an increasingly popular public policy response has been to impose restrictions on smoking through 100% smoke-free bans (comprehensive smoking bans). Yet sparse information exists regarding the impact these smoking bans at the state and local levels have on the health of children and infants. A rationale for expansion of smoke-free laws implicitly presumes that potential public health gains from reducing adult cigarette consumption and declines in adult ETS exposure extend to children. However, if smokers compensate by shifting their consumption of cigarettes from public venues that impose a comprehensive smoking ban to smoking at home, then these policies may have a harmful effect on children and infants. This study provides estimates of how comprehensive smoking bans impact the venue of smoking, and the health of children and infants. Using models that exploit state- and county-level changes to smoking ban legislation over time, estimates suggest that smoking bans have improved the health of both infants and children, mainly through implementation of more comprehensive bans. Further, we find no evidence of displacement among smokers (both smokers with and without children in the household), and actually find that the bans had a positive spillover effect in terms of reducing smoking inside the home - an effect which may further explain the improvement in infant and children's health. Our effect magnitudes imply that expanding comprehensive coverage from 60% (current level) to 100% of the population can prevent between approximately 1,110 - 1,750 low birthweight births among low-educated mothers, resulting in economic cost savings of about $71 - $111 million annually. Health improvements among older children add to these economic benefits.

Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.

Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)

Holdings
Item type	Home library	Collection	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
Working Paper	Biblioteca Digital	Colección NBER	nber w23995 (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Not For Loan

Total holds: 0

Collection: Colección NBER Close shelf browser (Hides shelf browser)

Previous	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	Next
Previous	nber w23992 Trade, Merchants, and the Lost Cities of the Bronze Age /	nber w23993 What Rule for the Federal Reserve? Forecast Targeting /	nber w23994 City Equilibrium with Borrowing Constraints: Structural Estimation and General Equilibrium Effects /	nber w23995 Impact of Comprehensive Smoking Bans on the Health of Infants and Children /	nber w23996 Uniform Pricing in US Retail Chains /	nber w23997 Frontier Culture: The Roots and Persistence of “Rugged Individualism” in the United States /	nber w23998 A Note on Variance Decomposition with Local Projections /	Next

November 2017.

As evidence of the negative effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has mounted, an increasingly popular public policy response has been to impose restrictions on smoking through 100% smoke-free bans (comprehensive smoking bans). Yet sparse information exists regarding the impact these smoking bans at the state and local levels have on the health of children and infants. A rationale for expansion of smoke-free laws implicitly presumes that potential public health gains from reducing adult cigarette consumption and declines in adult ETS exposure extend to children. However, if smokers compensate by shifting their consumption of cigarettes from public venues that impose a comprehensive smoking ban to smoking at home, then these policies may have a harmful effect on children and infants. This study provides estimates of how comprehensive smoking bans impact the venue of smoking, and the health of children and infants. Using models that exploit state- and county-level changes to smoking ban legislation over time, estimates suggest that smoking bans have improved the health of both infants and children, mainly through implementation of more comprehensive bans. Further, we find no evidence of displacement among smokers (both smokers with and without children in the household), and actually find that the bans had a positive spillover effect in terms of reducing smoking inside the home - an effect which may further explain the improvement in infant and children's health. Our effect magnitudes imply that expanding comprehensive coverage from 60% (current level) to 100% of the population can prevent between approximately 1,110 - 1,750 low birthweight births among low-educated mothers, resulting in economic cost savings of about $71 - $111 million annually. Health improvements among older children add to these economic benefits.