Do Minimum Legal Tobacco Purchase Age Laws Work?

Arbeitspapier

This paper uses a regression discontinuity design to estimate the impact of the minimum legal tobacco purchase age (MLTPA) laws on smoking behavior among young adults. Using data from the confidential version of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997 Cohort), which contains information on the exact birth date of the respondents, we find that the impact of the MLTPA on several indicators of smoking among youth is minor and often insignificant. However, we also show that granting legal access to cigarettes and tobacco products at the MLTPA leads to an increase in several indicators of smoking participation, including up to a 5 percentage point increase in the probability of smoking for males and for those who reported to have smoked before. These results are robust under several alternative model specifications and imply that policies that are designed to restrict youth access to tobacco are only effective in reducing smoking participation among certain groups of young adults.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 4860

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Health: General ; Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health ; Health: Other
• Subject: minimum legal tobacco purchase age ; smoking

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Yörük, Ceren Ertan ; Yörük, Baris K.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
• (where): Munich
• (when): 2014

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/102093
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET