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Tobacco use is concentrated among the poor and other vulnerable groups, and accounts for a significant share of the health disparities between the rich and poor.
We are devoted to improving access to economic research and information that can impact and inform tobacco policy. As a program of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Tobacconomics is not affiliated with any tobacco manufacturer.
Featured Project
Think Tanks Project: Accelerating Progress on Tobacco Taxes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Accelerating Progress on Tobacco Taxes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries aims to build capacity of economic and fiscal policy focused think tanks to provide evidence-based support for effective tobacco taxes.
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Cigarette Tax Scorecard
The Tobacconomics Cigarette Tax Scorecard was written by Frank J. Chaloupka, Jeff Drope, Erika Siu, Violeta Vulovic, Michal Stoklosa, Maryam Mirza, German Rodriguez-Iglesias, and Hye Myung Lee. The Scorecard assesses the performance of cigarette tax policies in over 170 countries. It uses data from the WHO Global Tobacco Control Reports to score countries on a five-point scale, thus providing policy makers with an actionable assessment. There are four scoring components used: the absolute price of cigarettes, changes in affordability, the tax share of the price, and the tax structure used. Each country receives a score for each component, in addition to an overall score. The Scorecard shows that, overall, countries are failing to effectively tax cigarettes. As governments face the combined public health and economic crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, reforming cigarette tax policies provides a logical first step in raising much needed revenue.
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