Cigarette Consumption in Malaysia

This paper examines the effects of socio-demographic factors on cigarette consumption among individuals with a particular emphasis on the interaction between marital status and education variables. The idea behind including these interacting variables is that the effect of education on cigarette con...

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Main Authors: Chu, Chao Wong, Abdul Razak, Nor Azam, Abdul Hakim, Roslan
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Published: 2016
Subjects:
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author Chu, Chao Wong
Abdul Razak, Nor Azam
Abdul Hakim, Roslan
author_facet Chu, Chao Wong
Abdul Razak, Nor Azam
Abdul Hakim, Roslan
author_sort Chu, Chao Wong
collection UUM
description This paper examines the effects of socio-demographic factors on cigarette consumption among individuals with a particular emphasis on the interaction between marital status and education variables. The idea behind including these interacting variables is that the effect of education on cigarette consumption could be conditioned by marital status which represents the stress level. In particular, it is postulated that bachelors tend to be the most stressful group while married people tend to be the least stressful group (and widows and divorcees strike the middle ground). As such, educated bachelors are expected to smoke more than educated people who used to be married, and this group is expected to smoke more than married, educated people. Using the household data from HES 200912010 of Malaysia, an empirical analysis is conducted based on the Tobit model. The results indicate that a) the interaction between marital status and education variables is not statistically significant, thereby rejecting the hypothesis that the effect of education is conditioned by marital status; b) marital status and education variables are (individually) significant determinants of cigarette consumption; c) gender, ethnicity, and residential area are (individually) insignificant determinants of cigarette consumption; and d) household income, household size, and age are (individually) significant determinants of cigarette consumption. These results imply that, among other things, raising the cigarette tax (and thereby, price) and the legal age of smoking, and targeting certain demographic groups (e.g. less educated and bachelors) are likely to be effective in reducing cigarette consumption.
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spelling uum-252022018-12-11T02:38:22Z https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/25202/ Cigarette Consumption in Malaysia Chu, Chao Wong Abdul Razak, Nor Azam Abdul Hakim, Roslan HB Economic Theory This paper examines the effects of socio-demographic factors on cigarette consumption among individuals with a particular emphasis on the interaction between marital status and education variables. The idea behind including these interacting variables is that the effect of education on cigarette consumption could be conditioned by marital status which represents the stress level. In particular, it is postulated that bachelors tend to be the most stressful group while married people tend to be the least stressful group (and widows and divorcees strike the middle ground). As such, educated bachelors are expected to smoke more than educated people who used to be married, and this group is expected to smoke more than married, educated people. Using the household data from HES 200912010 of Malaysia, an empirical analysis is conducted based on the Tobit model. The results indicate that a) the interaction between marital status and education variables is not statistically significant, thereby rejecting the hypothesis that the effect of education is conditioned by marital status; b) marital status and education variables are (individually) significant determinants of cigarette consumption; c) gender, ethnicity, and residential area are (individually) insignificant determinants of cigarette consumption; and d) household income, household size, and age are (individually) significant determinants of cigarette consumption. These results imply that, among other things, raising the cigarette tax (and thereby, price) and the legal age of smoking, and targeting certain demographic groups (e.g. less educated and bachelors) are likely to be effective in reducing cigarette consumption. 2016 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed Chu, Chao Wong and Abdul Razak, Nor Azam and Abdul Hakim, Roslan (2016) Cigarette Consumption in Malaysia. In: 31d Annual ECoFI Symposium 2016 18-19 December 2016, Kedah, Malaysia, 18-19 Dicember 2016, Universiti Utara Malaysia,Kedah.
spellingShingle HB Economic Theory
Chu, Chao Wong
Abdul Razak, Nor Azam
Abdul Hakim, Roslan
Cigarette Consumption in Malaysia
title Cigarette Consumption in Malaysia
title_full Cigarette Consumption in Malaysia
title_fullStr Cigarette Consumption in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Cigarette Consumption in Malaysia
title_short Cigarette Consumption in Malaysia
title_sort cigarette consumption in malaysia
topic HB Economic Theory
work_keys_str_mv AT chuchaowong cigaretteconsumptioninmalaysia
AT abdulrazaknorazam cigaretteconsumptioninmalaysia
AT abdulhakimroslan cigaretteconsumptioninmalaysia