AJPH
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (5)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Remler, D. K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Remler, D. K.
Related Collections
Right arrow Social Science
Right arrow Ethics
Right arrow Health Policy
Right arrow Socioeconomic Factors
Right arrow Other Tobacco
February 2004, Vol 94, No. 2 | American Journal of Public Health 225-229
© 2004 American Public Health Association

PROGRESS, SETBACKS, AND FUTURE NEEDS

Poor Smokers, Poor Quitters, and Cigarette Tax Regressivity

Dahlia K. Remler, PhD

The author is with the Department of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Dahlia K. Remler, PhD, Department of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 600 W 168th St, New York, NY 10032 (e-mail: dr404{at}columbia.edu).

The traditional view that excise taxes are regressive has been challenged. I document the history of the term regressive tax, show that traditional definitions have always found cigarette taxes to be regressive, and illustrate the implications of the greater price responsiveness observed among the poor. I explain the different definitions of tax burden: accounting, welfare-based willingness to pay, and welfare-based time inconsistent. Progressivity (equity across income groups) is sensitive to the way in which tax burden is assessed. Analysis of horizontal equity (fairness within a given income group) shows that cigarette taxes heavily burden poor smokers who do not quit, no matter how tax burden is assessed.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Am. J. Public HealthHome page
R. C. Callaghan, J. Tavares, and L. Taylor
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF AN ILLICIT CIGARETTE MARKET: A STUDY OF PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS IN TORONTO, ONTARIO
Am J Public Health, January 1, 2008; 98(1): 4 - 5.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Public HealthHome page
P. Franks, A. F. Jerant, J. P. Leigh, D. Lee, A. Chiem, I. Lewis, and S. Lee
Cigarette Prices, Smoking, and the Poor: Implications of Recent Trends
Am J Public Health, October 1, 2007; 97(10): 1873 - 1877.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Public HealthHome page
D. Shelley, M. J. Cantrell, J. Moon-Howard, D. Q. Ramjohn, and N. VanDevanter
The $5 Man: The Underground Economic Response to a Large Cigarette Tax Increase in New York City
Am J Public Health, August 1, 2007; 97(8): 1483 - 1488.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Med. HumanitiesHome page
K. Levy
My mother, the smoker
Med. Humanit., June 1, 2007; 33(1): 16 - 21.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Epidemiol. Community HealthHome page
L. Greaves and N. Jategaonkar
Tobacco policies and vulnerable girls and women: toward a framework for gender sensitive policy development
J. Epidemiol. Community Health, September 1, 2006; 60(suppl_2): ii57 - ii65.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Tobacco ControlHome page
B J Fox
Framing tobacco control efforts within an ethical context
Tob. Control, August 1, 2005; 14(suppl_2): ii38 - ii44.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2004 by the American Public Health Association