Smoking and the Economics of Government Intervention

Anthony Atkinson

Chapter 21 in The Economics of Health and Medical Care, 1974, pp 428-441 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract If the existence of a relationship between smoking and disease is accepted, the question arises of the desirability of government intervention to reduce tobacco consumption. This paper is concerned with the economic aspects of this question and, in particular, with the development of an underlying theoretical framework. The model of individual smoking behavior is based on utility maximization, but also allows for imperfect knowledge and habit formation. The welfare economic implications are then explored, and related to various estimates of the ‘cost’ of smoking. The paper also considers the choice between taxation and health education as means of reducing smoking, and brings out the point that more information about the health risks of smoking is not necessarily socially desirable.

Keywords: Social Welfare Function; Health Cost; Habit Formation; Imperfect Knowledge; Past Consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1974
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:intecp:978-1-349-63660-0_21

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DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-63660-0_21

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