Co-operation and conflict in the management of a health scare: the work of the Tobacco Industry Research Committee

Sue Bowden, Martin Forster and Martin Walsh

Centre for Historical Economics and Related Research at York (CHERRY) Discussion Papers from CHERRY, c/o Department of Economics, University of York

Abstract: This paper examines the response of the American tobacco companies to the health scare surrounding tobacco harm between 1953 and 1964, through an analysis of the operations of the Tobacco Industry Research Committee (TIRC). We consider the reasons for the TIRC's establishment and subsequent conduct in the context of a series of external pressures which built up on the tobacco industry prior to, and during, the period in question. These include the increase in deaths from cancer which had occurred during the first half of the twentieth century, accumulating epidemiological evidence suggesting that tobacco use was harmful to health, progressively more grave statements that were being made by public health bodies and scientists to the same effect, falling sales of cigarettes and faltering stockholder confidence. We consider the TIRC's contribution to restoring confidence in tobacco products, what motivated scientific advisors to sit on, and resign from, its Scientific Advisory Board and the legitimacy of the argument that the controversy surrounding tobacco harm continued until the mid-1960s

Date: 2007-07
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.york.ac.uk/media/economics/documents/c ... pap0506d(bowden).pdf Main text (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 404 Not Found

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:yor:cherry:07/03

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Centre for Historical Economics and Related Research at York (CHERRY) Discussion Papers from CHERRY, c/o Department of Economics, University of York c/o Andrea Papadia, Department of Economics and Related Studies, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Andrea Papadia ().