Educational Differences in Smoking: Selection Versus Causation

Jürges Hendrik () and Meyer Sophie-Charlotte ()
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Jürges Hendrik: University of Wuppertal, Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, Rainer-Gruenter-Str.21 (FN), 42119Wuppertal, Germany
Meyer Sophie-Charlotte: Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Dortmund, Germany
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Hendrik Juerges

Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), 2020, vol. 240, issue 4, 467-492

Abstract: We investigate sources of educational differences in smoking. Using a large German data set containing retrospective information on the age at smoking onset, we compare age-specific hazard rates of starting smoking between (future) low and high educated individuals. We find that up to 90 % of the educational differences in smoking develop before the age of 16, i. e. before compulsory schooling is completed. This education gap persists into adulthood. Further, we examine the role of health-related knowledge (proxied by working in health-related occupations) and find it hardly explains smoking decisions. Our findings suggest that (unobserved) factors determining both the selection into smoking and education are almost exclusively responsible for educational differences in smoking. Only small parts of the education gap seem to be caused by general or health-specific education. The effectiveness of education policy to combat smoking is thus likely limited.

Keywords: education; smoking initiation; health-related knowledge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 J13 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2019-0004 (text/html)

Related works:
Working Paper: Educational differences in smoking: selection versus causation (2017)
Working Paper: Education differences in smoking: selection versus causation (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:jns:jbstat:v:240:y:2020:i:4:p:467-492:n:5

DOI: 10.1515/jbnst-2019-0004

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