The Effects of
E-Cigarette Taxes on
E-Cigarette Prices and Tobacco Product Sales: Evidence from Retail Panel Data
Chad Cotti, Charles Courtemanche, Johanna Catherine Maclean,
Erik Nesson, Michael F. Pesko,
and Nathan W. Tefft
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We estimate the effect of e-cigarette tax rates on e-cigarette prices, e-cigarette sales, and sales of other tobacco products using NielsenIQ Retail Scanner data from 2013 to 2019. We find that 90% of e-cigarette taxes are passed on to consumer retail prices. We then estimate reduced form and instrumental variables regressions to examine the effects of e-cigarette and cigarette taxes and prices on sales. We calculate an e-cigarette own-price elasticity of -2.2 and particularly large elasticity of demand for flavored e-cigarettes. Further, we document a cigarette own-price elasticity of -0.4 and positive cross-price elasticities of demand between e-cigarettes and cigarettes, suggesting economic substitution.