Gender Gap in Smoking: A Nonlinear Decomposition Analysis for Turkey

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the determinants of gender gap in smoking and compare the results between 2008 and 2012, the period of National Tobacco Control Action Plan. We apply the extended Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition using the Global Adult Tobacco Survey. We find that the percentage of the smoking differential explained is sensitive to the choice of the reference coefficients. Moreover, an inclusion of attitude toward tobacco law and tax variables increases the percentage of the explained differential when females and males differ only with respect to the differences in the observed characteristics. Results show that females and males respond differently to the changes in the factors of smoking. In addition, decomposition analysis reveals that contributions of the significant factors associated with gender gap in smoking differ between 2008 and 2012.