 Tobacco Regulation and Cost-Benefit Analysis: How Should we Value Foregone Consumer Surplus?Helen Levy (), Edward Norton and Jeffrey Smith Working Papers from eSocialSciences Abstract: This paper outlines the history of the FDA’s recent attempts to regulate cigarettes and other tobacco products and how they have valued foregone consumer surplus in cost-benefit analyses. It discusses the evidence on whether consumers are fully informed about the risks of smoking and whether their choices are rational, reviewing the competing arguments made by different authors about these questions. It describes the appropriate approach to welfare analysis under different assumptions about consumer information and rationality. Based on our reading of the theoretical and empirical literatures, also advocates using a behavioral public finance framework borrowed from the literature on environmental regulation. [Working Paper 22471] Keywords: FDA; cigarettes and other tobacco products; consumer surplus; cost-benefit analyses; the risks of smoking; public finance framework (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:11159 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in Working Papers from eSocialSciences |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.