The Benefits and Costs of Cigarette Smoking - A State Dependent Approach
- 31 March 1992
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Studies in Economics and Econometrics
- Vol. 16 (1) , 1-12
- https://doi.org/10.1080/03796205.1992.12129014
Abstract
The paper begins by examining the economic analysis of a recent Medical Research Council Report on tobacco smoking. An alternative model evaluating the benefits less costs of smoking is then put forward drawing on standard economic theory adjusted only by Karnis’s state dependent improvement to Von Neumann - Morgenstern decision theory. Given the key assumptions of the argument (mainly those of economic liberalism) it is difficult unambiguously to conclude that smoking imposes net costs on society. The paper ends with a brief discussion, using public choice analysis, and suggests reasons why this ambiguous conclusion tends often to be rejected.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Decision Making Under UncertaintyPublished by Harvard University Press ,1985
- The Demand for Tobacco in the U.K.*The Manchester School, 1971