Abstract

We analyze individual-level data on cigarette smoking from 23 national cross-sectional surveys conducted by the Gallup Poll from 1944 through 2004. We estimate standard two-part models of cigarette demand as a function of demographics, income, and cigarette prices. Over the sixty year time-span covered in our data, smoking participation falls from almost 50 percent to 22 percent. We find that the influences of key demographic factors on cigarette demand change over time: the gender difference in smoking rates almost disappears, the black-white difference reverses, a strong gradient with schooling emerges, and a negative income elasticity emerges.