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An Analysis of Life-Course Smoking Behavior in China

Author
Kenkel, Donald
Abstract
With a total population of more than 1.3 billion people where more than 31% of adults smoke, China has become
the world’s largest producer and consumer of cigarettes. We adopt a life-course perspective to study the economics
of smoking behavior in China. We use data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) to follow
individuals over their whole lives and to analyze their decisions to both start and stop smoking. We extend the small
but growing body of economic research on smoking in China. Our life-course approach emphasizes that current
smoking participation reflects a decision to start and a series of past decisions to not quit. We explore how the
determinants of smoking initiation differ from the determinants of smoking cessation. We find results, consistent
with some previous empirical evidence, that Chinese smoking is not strongly related to the price of cigarettes. Based
on our results, we offer some speculative hypotheses that, we hope, might guide future research on the economics of
smoking in China. It seems especially useful to compare the broad patterns we document with the experiences of
other countries. Copyright r 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Date Issued
2009Subject
Policy Analysis and Management
Previously Published As
Health Econ. 18: S147–S156 (2009)
Type
article