The relationship between smoking initiation and time discount factor, risk aversion and information

Abstract

The paper is the first to discuss the relationship between smoking initiation and gender, time discount factor, risk aversion, and information about diseases due to smoking. The estimated results show that gender and time discount rate significantly affect smoking initiation but risk aversion and information do not. Since information does not discourage smoking initiation, public policies aimed at educating young people about the harmful effects of smoking may not be effective.