Five Economics Term Paper Topic Suggestions

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Five Term Paper Suggestions - Cigarette Taxes

[Part 2: Tips on writing a term paper on Cigarette Taxes]

ÂMore of this Feature

•ÂPart 1: Term Paper Tips - Introduction
•ÂPart 2: Term Paper Tips - Cigarette Taxes
•ÂPart 3: Term Paper Tips - The Kyoto Protocol
•ÂPart 4: Term Paper Tips - Stadium Subsidies
•ÂPart 5: Term Paper Tips - Economic Impact of SUVs
•ÂPart 6: Term Paper Tips - Dividend Tax Cut
•ÂPart 7: Term Paper Tips - Final Words
Â

ÂRelated Resources

•ÂGlossary of Economics Terms
•ÂEconomic Research Institutes
•ÂEconomics Working Papers
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Cigarette taxes are a hot topic. All 50 state governments have enacted taxes on cigarettes, and many have raised their taxes several times. Cigarette taxes are a way governments can achieve two social objectives. The first objective is to reduce the number of citizens who smoke. The government issuing the cigarette tax hopes that the rise in the cost of a package of cigarettes will induce people to quit smoking. The second objective is to raise government revenue. A cigarette tax, like any other tax, increases the amount of revenue governments can spend on social programs.

Issues you may want to address in your cigarette tax paper

Will cigarette taxes have the desired effect of reducing the demand for cigarettes?
Do increases in cigarette taxes have any other effects?
What are the distributional effects of cigarette taxes? Who pays for the bulk of the taxes: richer citizens or poorer citizens?
What do governments spend cigarette tax revenues on? How much of the tax collected goes to programs designed to help people to stop smoking? How much of it goes to increased health care costs due to smoking?

Statistics

State Excise Tax Rates on Cigarettes
http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/cigarett.html

Newspaper and Magazine Articles on Cigarette Taxes

USA TODAY - States Consider Cigarette Tax Hike
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/01/14/usat-cigtax.htm
Portland Business Journal - Cigarette tax measure may have unintended consequences
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/1996/11/04/editorial4.html

Policy Papers on Cigarette Taxes

Mackinac Center for Public Policy - The Unintended Consequences of Cigarette Tax Hikes
http://www.mackinac.org/4927
National Center for Policy Analysis - Will a Cigarette Tax Increase Really Help Uninsured Children?
http://www.ncpa.org/~ncpa/ba/ba231.html
Tobacco Free Kids - Higher Cigarette Taxes Reduce Smoking and Save Lives
(Great source of links and statistics as well)
http://tobaccofreekids.org/reports/prices/
New York Fiscal Watch - NYC Cigarette Tax Hike Endangers Pataki Health Funding
http://www.nyfiscalwatch.com/html/fwm_2002-05.html

Journal Articles on Cigarette Taxes

Putting Out the Fires: Will Higher Taxes Reduce the Onset of Youth Smoking? - Philip DeCicca, Donald Kenkel and Alan Mathios. Journal of Political Economy v110, n1 (February 2002): 144-69.
Response by Adults to Increases in Cigarette Prices by Sociodemographic Characteristics. - Matthew C. Farrely et. Al, Southern Economic Journal v68, n1 (July 2001): 156-65.
The Economics of Smoking - Frank J. Chloupka and Kenneth E. Warner, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper: 7047.
Tobacco Taxes, Smoking Restrictions, Robert L. Ohsfeldt ; Raymond G. Boyle and Eli I. Capilouto, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper: 6486.

Next page > Part 3: Term Paper Tips - The Kyoto Protocol > Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

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