Smoking bans and acute myocardial infarction incidence

Abstract

This article examines the effect of statewide smoking bans on Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) incidence. After controlling for endogeneity between smoking ban status and AMI incidence, an econometric model indicates that smoking bans exerted no significant effect over 2005–2009 in the 50 states. The evidence thus suggests that findings from previous studies that bans lowered AMI incidence from 6% to 47% were the result of possible sampling bias and/or from examining periods too short with which to fully evaluate the longer term effects from bans.

Keywords:

• public health
• smoking ban
• AMI incidence

JEL Classification:

• I18
• I12
• K32