Voter Preferences and State Regulation of Smoking |
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| Authors: | Joni Hersch Alison F. Del Rossi W. Kip Viscusi |
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| Affiliation: | Hersch:;Adjunct Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, 1557 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138. Phone 1–617–495–2832, Fax 1–617–495–3010, E-mail Del Rossi:;Associate Professor, Department of Economics, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY 13617. Phone 1–315–229–5449, Fax 1–315–229–5819, E-mail Viscusi:;Cogan Professor of Law and Economics, Harvard Law School, Hauser 302, 1575 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138. Phone 1–617–496–0019, Fax 1–617–495–3010, E-mail |
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| Abstract: | Voters' preferences for smoking restrictions in restaurants, bars, malls, indoor sporting events, and hospitals are consistent with state-level restrictions on smoking in each of these public areas. This analysis is based on constructed measures of political pressure that take into account both individual preferences and voting behavior. Although smokers are less likely to vote than nonsmokers, their lower voting rate does not substantially influence the probability that a state has a restriction. Other factors, such as tobacco's role in the state economy and state income, are rarely influential. |
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