Taxes on cigarettes have long been used to help reduce cigarette consumption. Social factors also affect cigarette consumption, but this impact has not been quantified. We computed a social unacceptability index based on individuals’ responses to questions regarding locations where smoking should be allowed. A regression analysis showed that the social unacceptability index and price had similar elasticities and that their effects were independent of each other. If, through an active tobacco control campaign, the average individual’s views on the social unacceptability of smoking changed to more closely resemble the views of California residents, there would be a 15% drop in cigarette consumption, equivalent to a $1.17 increase in the excise tax on cigarettes.

Objective: To determine the effect of the Delaware smokefree law on gaming revenue. Methods: Linear regression of gaming revenue and average revenue per machine on a public policy variable, time, while controlling for economic activity and seasonal effects. Results: The linear regression showed that the smoke-free law was associated with no effect on total revenue or average revenue per machine. Conclusion: Smoke-free laws are associated with no change in gaming revenue.

This study estimates the economic value added to a restaurant by a smoke-free policy using regression analysis of the purchase price of restaurants, as a function of the presence of a smokefree law and other control variables. There was a median increase of 16% (interquartile range 11% to 25%) in the sale price of a restaurant in a jurisdiction with a smoke-free law compared to a comparable restaurant in a community without such a law. This result indicates that, contrary to claims made by the tobacco industry and other opponents of smoke-free laws, these laws are associated with an increase in restaurant profitability.

The tobacco industry has claimed that smoke-free bar laws caused bar revenues to decline by 30%. After we controlled for economic variables, we found that bars located in areas with smoke-free laws sold for prices that were comparable to prices for similar bars in areas with no smoking restrictions. Other studies have reported that sales did not decline, and we also found that neither price nor sales declined. Therefore, bar owners' concerns that smoke-free laws will reduce the value of their bars are unfounded.

No abstract