Does a Kuznets curve exist for tobacco consumption?: evidence from OECD countries

Abstract

Using data from 27 OCDE countries from 1990 to 2021, the purpose of this article is to studyempirically if the Kuznets' curve hypothesis exists on economic development and health, measur-ing the latter through tobacco consumption. We examine the relationship between tobaccoconsumption and income, the Gini coefficient, life expectancy, unemployment rate, and thepopulation's age structure to analyse the research question given the relevance to economicdevelopment and costs of tobacco use. We hypothesize that tobacco consumption increases asincome levels increase until a certain tipping point, after which tobacco consumption would startto fall. We provide evidence for the existence of a Kuznets Curve for tobacco consumption. Ourresults also verify that inequality, unemployment rates and life expectancy increase tobaccoconsumption, although increases in the youth and the elderly population reduce tobacco use