Intended and Unintended Effects of E-cigarette Taxes on Youth Tobacco Use

Intended and Unintended Effects of E-cigarette Taxes on Youth Tobacco Use, National Bureau of Economic Research working paper. Key takeaway: “We find that ENDS taxes reduce youth e-cigarette consumption, with estimated e-cigarette tax elasticities of -0.06 to -0.21. However, we estimate sizable positive cigarette cross-tax elasticities, suggesting economic substitution between cigarettes and e-cigarettes for youth. These substitution effects are particularly large for frequent cigarette smoking. We conclude that the unintended effects of ENDS taxation may more than fully offset any public health gains.”