Document Type
Article
Publication Title
The Review of Economics and Statistics
Publication Date
1991
Page Number
577
Keywords
smoking, addiction, state regulation, Surgeon General's reports
Disciplines
Health Law and Policy | Law
Abstract
The results of a national survey of smoking risks and smoking behavior are analyzed. Smoking risk perceptions follow the expected patterns given age differences in risk information acquired and differences in information associated with smoking status. Risk perceptions are greater as one moves to younger age cohorts, where overall lung cancer risks are substantially overestimated. These risk perceptions in turn have a negative effect on smoking decisions, where younger individuals behave no differently in terms of the manner in which they incorporate risk perceptions into their smoking decisions.
Recommended Citation
W. Kip Viscusi,
Age Variations in Risk Perceptions and Smoking Decisions, 78 The Review of Economics and Statistics. 577
(1991)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/50