Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine
Published in: Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research article

The relation between cigarette taxes and older adult smoking in Zhejiang and Gansu: what happened following the 2009 Chinese Tax adjustments?

Author: Qing Wang

Published in: Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine | Issue 1/2017

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

In May 2009, the Chinese government raised cigarette excise tax rates and adjusted standards for Grade A cigarettes and Grade B cigarettes. The present study aimed to examine the effects of the tax adjustments in 2009 on smoking behaviors and health outcomes among smokers aged above 45.

Methods

Data from the 2008 and 2012 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study of Zhejiang and Gansu provinces were used to estimate the influence of tax increase on the number of cigarettes smoked daily and health capital. The sample included 706 smokers who were 45 years old and older at the time of data collection in 2008. The sample group was surveyed again in 2012. The final sample size was 1366. Logit model was applied.

Results

Cigarette tax adjustment in 2009 resulted in the decrease in the likelihood of smoking 0–10 cigarettes per day by 1.06%; the increase in the likelihood of those smoking 11–20 cigarettes per day by 0.44%; and, those smoking 20 cigarettes or more by 0.63%; the decrease in the likelihood of good health by 0.47%; the increase in the prevalence of chronic disease by 1.34%.

Conclusions

The smoke tax adjustment in 2009 worsened individual unhealthy smoking behaviors and health outcomes. The proposed cigarette tax levied at the retail level can reduce the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration’s control overall and each price and increase the influence of the market on cigarette consumption in China.
Footnotes
1
If the allocation-wholesale margin was 28%, the allocate price was 4.86, above 3 yuan; if the allocation-wholesale margin was 43%, the allocate price was 4.35, below 5 yuan. So the allocation-wholesale margin must be 38%, and the allocate price was 4.50 yuan.
 
Literature
1.
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) China. Country Report. China Sanxia Press. 2011.
2.
3.
Jha P. Death and taxes: epidemiological and economic evidence on smoking. Glob Heart. 2012;7(2):139–42.CrossRefPubMed
4.
Becker GS, Grossman M, Murphy KM. An empirical analysis of cigarette addiction. Am Econ Rev. 1994;84:396–418.
5.
6.
Farrelly MC, Woollery T. Response by adults to increases in cigarette prices by sociodemographic characteristics. Southern Econ J. 2001;68(1):156–65.CrossRef
7.
Fishman PA, Ebel BE, Garrison MM, Christakis DA, Wiehe SE, Rivara FP. Cigarette tax increase and media campaign: cost of reducing smoking-related deaths. Am J Prev Med. 2005;29:19–26.CrossRefPubMed
8.
Kinh HV, Ross H, Levy D, Minh NT, Ngoc VTB. The effect of imposing a higher, uniform tobacco tax in Vietnam. Health Res Policy Systems. 2006;4(9):1–16.
9.
Ahmad S, Franz G. Raising taxes to reduce smoking prevalence in the US: A simulation of the anticipated health and economic impacts. Public Health. 2008;122:3–10.CrossRefPubMed
10.
Chaloupka FJ, Warner KE. The economics of smoking. In: Newhouse JP, Cuyler AJ, editors. The handbook of health economics. 2000.
11.
Emery S, White MM, Pierce JP. Does cigarette price influence adolescent experimentation? J Health Eco. 2001;20(2):261–70.CrossRef
12.
13.
Forster M, Jones AM. The role of tobacco taxes in starting and quitting smoking: duration analysis of british data. J Royal Stat Soc. 2000;164(3):517–47.CrossRef
14.
Douglas S. The duration of the smoking habit. Econ Inquiry. 1998;36(36):49–64.CrossRef
15.
Decicca P, Kenkel D, Mathios A. Putting out the fires: will higher taxes reduce youth smoking? J Health Econ. 2000;27:918–29.CrossRef
16.
Decicca P, Mcleod L. Cigarette taxes and older adult smoking: Evidence from recent large tax increases. J Health Econ. 2008;27:918–29.CrossRefPubMed
17.
Regidor E, Pascual C, Giráldez-García C, Galindo S, Martínez D, Kunst AE. Impact of tobacco prices and smoke-free policy on smoking cessation, by gender and educational group: Spain, 1993–2012. Int J Drug Policy. 2015;26(12):1215–21.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Gao S, Zheng R. Price, tax and cigarette smoking: simulations of china’s tobacco tax policy. Front Econ China. 2012;7(4):604–26.
19.
20.
Qiang L, Geoffrey TF, Wang CX, Mao ZZ. The effects of cigarette consumption tax adjustment on cigarette prices and smoking cessation in China in 2009. Chin J Epidemiol. 2012;33(8):870–1.
21.
Laxminarayan R, Deolalikar A. Tobacco initiation, cessation, and change: evidence from Vietnam. Health Econ. 2004;13:1191–201.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Oshfeldt RL, Boyle RG. Tobacco excise taxes and rates of smokeless tobacco use in the US: an exploratory ecological analysis. Tob Control. 1994;3:316–23.CrossRef
23.
Ohsfeldt RL, Boyle RG, Capilouto EI. Effects of tobacco excise taxes on the use of smokeless tobacco products. Health Econ. 1997;6:525–32.CrossRefPubMed
24.
Ohsfeldt RL, Boyle RG, Capilouto EI. Tobacco taxes, smoking restrictions, and tobacco use, NBER Working Paper No. 6486. 1998.CrossRef
25.
Thompson ME, McLeod I. The effects of economic variables upon the demand for cigarettes in Canada. Math Sci. 1976;1:121–32.
26.
Pekurinen M. The demand for tobacco products in Finland. Brit J Addiction. 1989;84:1183–92.CrossRef
27.
Young D, Borland R, Hammond D, et al. Prevalence and attributes of roll-your-own smokers in the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey. Tob Control. 2006;15(Supplement III):76–82.
28.
Hanewinkel R, Isensee B. Five in a row-reactions of smokers to tobacco tax increases: population- based cross-sectional studies in Germany 2001–2006. Tob Control. 2007;16:34–7.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
29.
Hyland A, Laux FL, Higbee C, et al. Cigarette purchase patterns in four countries and the relationship with cessation: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey. Tob Control. 2006;15(Supplement III):59–64.
30.
Cummings KM, Hyland A, Lewit E, et al. Use of discount cigarettes by smokers in 20 communities in the United States, 1988–1993. Tob Control. 1997;6:S25–30.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
31.
Cummings KM, Hyland A, Lewit E, et al. Discrepancies in cigarette brand sales and adult market share: are new teen smokers filling the gap? Tob Control. 1997;6:S38–43.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
32.
Tsai YW, Yang CL, Chen CS, et al. The effect of Taiwan’s tax-induced increases in cigarette prices on brand-switching and the consumption of cigarettes. Health Econ. 2005;14:627–41.CrossRefPubMed
33.
Castro-Costa E, Dewey M, Stewart R, et al. Ascertaining late-life depressive symptoms in Europe: an evaluation of the survey version of the EURO-D scale in 10 nations. The SHARE project. Int J Meth Psych Res. 2008;17:12–29.CrossRef
34.
Rong Z, Jidong H. Would raising tobacco tax in China unfairly burden the poor? Lancet Glob Health. 2015;2015:e181–2.
35.
Cawley J, Ruhm C. The economic of risky health behavior. In: Barros PP, McGuire T, Pauly M, editors. Handbook of health economics. 2011.
36.
Wang Q, Shen JJ, Cochran C. Unemployment Rate, Smoking in China: Are They Related? Int J Env Res Public Health. 2016;13(1):113.CrossRef
37.
Li X, Liang H, Li X, et al. Pattern of smoking and its association with psychosocial work conditions among blue-collar and service employees of hospital venues in Shenyang, PR China. BMC Public Health. 2010;10:37.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
38.
Chen ZM, Peto R, Iona A, Guo Y, Chen YP, et al. Emerging tobacco-related cancer risk in China: A nationwide, prospective study of 0.5 million adults. Cancer. 2015;121 S17:3097–106.CrossRef
39.
Hisham M, Fakhreddine B, Kanj A, Kanj NA. The growing epidemic of water pipe smoking: Health effects and future needs. Resp Med. 2014;108(9):1241–53.CrossRef
40.
Sen A, Entezarkheir M, Wilson A. Obesity, smoking, and cigarette taxes: evidence from the Canadian community health surveys. Health Policy. 2010;97(2–3):180–6.CrossRefPubMed
41.
Metadata
Title
The relation between cigarette taxes and older adult smoking in Zhejiang and Gansu: what happened following the 2009 Chinese Tax adjustments?
Author
Qing Wang
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine / Issue 1/2017
Print ISSN: 1342-078X
Electronic ISSN: 1347-4715
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12199-017-0640-9

Other articles of this Issue 1/2017

Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine 1/2017 Go to the issue

Research article

Level and potential social-ecological factors associated with physical inactivity and sedentary behavior among Moroccan school-age adolescents: a cross-sectional study

Letter to the Editor

Comments on “Association of excessive mobile phone use during pregnancy with birth weight: an adjunct study in Kumamoto of Japan Environment and Children’s Study”

Review article

A review of Vietnam’s healthcare reform through the Direction of Healthcare Activities (DOHA)

Research

Enterococcus hirae biofilm formation on hospital material surfaces and effect of new biocides

Short communication

Comparison between air pollution concentrations measured at the nearest monitoring station to the delivery hospital and those measured at stations nearest the residential postal code regions of pregnant women in Fukuoka

Regular Article

Occupation exposed to road-traffic emissions and respiratory health among Congolese transit workers, particularly bus conductors, in Kinshasa: a cross-sectional study