Equity impacts of price policies to promote healthy behaviours
Open accessAbstract
Governments can use fiscal policies to regulate the prices and consumption of potentially unhealthy products. However, policies aimed at reducing consumption by increasing prices, for example by taxation, might impose an unfair financial burden on low-income households. We used data from household expenditure surveys to estimate patterns of expenditure on potentially unhealthy products by socioeconomic status, with a primary focus on low-income and middle-income countries. Price policies affect the consumption and expenditure of a larger number of high-income households than low-income households, and any resulting price increases tend to be financed disproportionately by high-income households. As a share of all household consumption, however, price increases are often a larger financial burden for low-income households than for high-income households, most consistently in the case of tobacco, depending on how much consumption decreases in response to increased prices. Large health benefits often accrue to individual low-income consumers because of their strong response to price changes. The potentially larger financial burden on low-income households created by taxation could be mitigated by a pro-poor use of the generated tax revenues.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Across the world, people with low income suffer disproportionately from the health and economic consequences of tobacco.
“Across the world, people with low income suffer disproportionately from the health and economic consequences of tobacco,208”
From Global health 2050: the path to halving premature death by mid-century (2024) · cites this paper as [208]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Deaton, A. (1980) · Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) (University of Oxford) · Cited by 4,172 · see citing works
Fuller, N. R., Colagiuri, S., SCHOFIELD, D. J., Olson, A. D., Shrestha, R. N., Holzapfel, C., Wolfenstetter, S. B., Holle, R., Ahern, A. L., Hauner, H., et al. (2012) · International Journal of Obesity · doi:10.1038/ijo.2012.139 · Cited by 2,125 · see citing works
Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity. Research and public policy
Babor, T. F., Caetano, R., Casswell, S., Edwards, G., Giesbrecht, N., Graham, K., Grube, J. W., Hill, L., Holder, H. D., Homel, R. J., et al. (2003) · Cited by 1,718 · see citing works
The burden and costs of chronic diseases in low-income and middle-income countries.
Abegunde, D. O., Mathers, C. D., Adam, T., Ortegon, M., & Strong, K. (2007) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61696-1 · Cited by 1,603 · see citing works
Shibuya, K., Ciecierski, C. C., Guindon, G. E., Bettcher, D. W., EVANS, D. B., & Murray, C. J. L. (2003) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7407.154 · Cited by 1,239 · see citing works
Wagenaar, A. C., Salois, M. J., & Komro, K. A. (2009) · Addiction · doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02438.x · Cited by 1,128 · see citing works
Mathers, C. D. (2008) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-012373960-5.00335-x · Cited by 1,125 · see citing works
Tackling Harmful Alcohol Use: Economics and Public Health Policy
OECD (2015) · doi:10.1787/9789264181069-en · Cited by 991 · see citing works
Tackling of unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and obesity: health effects and cost-effectiveness
Cecchini, M., Sassi, F., Lauer, J. A., Lee, Y. Y., Guajardo-Barron, V., & Chisholm, D. (2010) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(10)61514-0 · Cited by 889 · see citing works
Self-citationGlobal strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol
Ray, R., & Anish, P. K. (2012) · The Indian Journal of Medical Research · Cited by 888 · see citing works
Colchero, M. A., Popkin, B. M., Rivera, J. Á., & Ng, S. W. (2016) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.h6704 · Cited by 829 · see citing works
Self-citationTobacco taxes as a tobacco control strategy
Chaloupka, F. J., Yurekli, A., & Fong, G. T. (2012) · Tobacco Control · doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2011-050417 · Cited by 705 · see citing works
Colchero, M. A., Rivera-Dommarco, J., Popkin, B. M., & Ng, S. W. (2017) · Health Affairs · doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2016.1231 · Cited by 679 · see citing works
Self-citationInequalities in non-communicable diseases and effective responses
Cesare, M. D., Khang, Y., Asaria, P., Blakely, T. A., Cowan, M. J., Farzadfar, F., Guerrero, R., Ikeda, N., Kyobutungi, C. K., Msyamboza, K. P., et al. (2013) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(12)61851-0 · Cited by 674 · see citing works
Asaria, P., Chisholm, D., Mathers, C. D., Ezzati, M., & Beaglehole, R. (2007) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61698-5 · Cited by 570 · see citing works
Powell, L. M., Chriqui, J. F., Khan, T., Wada, R., & Chaloupka, F. J. (2013) · Obesity Reviews · doi:10.1111/obr.12002 · Cited by 553 · see citing works
The Effects of Tobacco Control Policies on Smoking Rates
Levy, D. T., Chaloupka, F. J., & Gitchell, J. G. (2004) · Journal of Public Health Management and Practice · doi:10.1097/00124784-200407000-00011 · Cited by 432 · see citing works
The effect of rising food prices on food consumption: systematic review with meta-regression
Green, R., Cornelsen, L., Dangour, A. D., Turner, R., Shankar, B., Mazzocchi, M., & Smith, R. (2013) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.f3703 · Cited by 412 · see citing works
The demand for alcohol: a meta‐analysis of elasticities*
Gallet, C. A. (2007) · Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8489.2007.00365.x · Cited by 332 · see citing works
Obesity and the economics of prevention: fit not fat
(2011) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.48-6419 · Cited by 324 · see citing works
Prevention of chronic diseases: a call to action
Beaglehole, R., Ebrahim, S. B. J., Reddy, S., Voûte, J., & Leeder, S. (2007) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(07)61700-0 · Cited by 320 · see citing works
Holmes, J., Meng, Y., Meier, P. S., Brennan, A., Angus, C., Campbell-Burton, A., Guo, Y., Hill‐McManus, D., & Purshouse, R. C. (2014) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(13)62417-4 · Cited by 307 · see citing works
The effect of fiscal policy on diet, obesity and chronic disease: a systematic review
Thow, A. M., Jan, S., Leeder, S., & Swinburn, B. A. (2010) · Bulletin of the World Health Organization · doi:10.2471/blt.09.070987 · Cited by 299 · see citing works
Zhen, C., Finkelstein, E. A., Nonnemaker, J. M., Karns, S., & Todd, J. E. (2013) · American Journal of Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1093/ajae/aat049 · Cited by 275 · see citing works
Eyles, H. C., Mhurchú, C. N., Nghiem, N., & Blakely, T. A. (2012) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001353 · Cited by 264 · see citing works
Backholer, K., Sarink, D., Beauchamp, A., Keating, C., Loh, V. H. Y., Ball, K., Martin, J. E., & Peeters, A. (2016) · Public Health Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s136898001600104x · Cited by 251 · see citing works
Action to address the household economic burden of non-communicable diseases
Jan, S., Laba, T., Essue, B. M., Gheorghe, A., Muhunthan, J., Engelgau, M. M., Mahal, A. S., Griffiths, U. K., McIntyre, D., Meng, Q., et al. (2018) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(18)30323-4 · Cited by 249 · see citing works
Self-citationColchero, M. A., Salgado, J. C., Unar‐Munguía, M., Molina, M., Ng, S., & Rivera, J. Á. (2015) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0144408 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Cornelsen, L., Green, R., Turner, R., Dangour, A. D., Shankar, B., Mazzocchi, M., & Smith, R. (2014) · Health Economics · doi:10.1002/hec.3107 · Cited by 189 · see citing works
Beverages Sales in Mexico before and after Implementation of a Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax
Colchero, M. A., Guerrero-López, C. M., Molina, M., & Rivera, J. Á. (2016) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0163463 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Nakhimovsky, S. S., Feigl, A. B., Ávila, C., O’Sullivan, G., Macgregor-Skinner, E., & Spranca, M. D. (2016) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0163358 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Universal Public Finance of Tuberculosis Treatment in India: An Extended Cost‐Effectiveness Analysis
Verguet, S., Laxminarayan, R., & Jamison, D. T. T. (2014) · Health Economics · doi:10.1002/hec.3019 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Verguet, S., Gauvreau, C. L., Mishra, S., MacLennan, M., Murphy, S. M., Brouwer, E. D., Nugent, R. A., Zhao, K., Jha, P., & Jamison, D. T. (2015) · The Lancet Global Health · doi:10.1016/s2214-109x(15)70095-1 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Self-citationStockwell, T. R., Zhao, J., Martin, G., Macdonald, S., Vallance, K., Treno, A. J., Ponicki, W. R., Tu, A. W., & Buxton, J. A. (2013) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2013.301289 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
THE EFFECTS OF TAXING SUGAR‐SWEETENED BEVERAGES ACROSS DIFFERENT INCOME GROUPS
Sharma, A., Hauck, K., Hollingsworth, B. P., & Siciliani, L. (2014) · Health Economics · doi:10.1002/hec.3070 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Poor Smokers, Poor Quitters, and Cigarette Tax Regressivity
Remler, D. K. (2004) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.94.2.225 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Obesity and the Economics of Prevention: Fit Not Fat
Smith, T. G. (2011) · American Journal of Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1093/ajae/aar141 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Meta-analysis of alcohol price and income elasticities – with corrections for publication bias
Nelson, J. P. (2013) · Health Economics Review · doi:10.1186/2191-1991-3-17 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Sornpaisarn, B., Shield, K., Cohen, J., Schwartz, R., & Rehm, J. (2013) · The International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research · doi:10.7895/ijadr.v2i1.50 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Nargis, N., Ruthbah, U. H., Hussain, A. K. M. G., et al. (2013) · Tobacco Control · doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050835 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
UNDERSTANDING HETEROGENEITY IN PRICE ELASTICITIES IN THE DEMAND FOR ALCOHOL FOR OLDER INDIVIDUALS
Ayyagari, P., Deb, P., Fletcher, J. M., Gallo, W. T., & Sindelar, J. L. (2011) · Health Economics · doi:10.1002/hec.1817 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Sreeramareddy, C. T., & Pradhan, P. M. S. (2015) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0130104 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Shemilt, I., Hollands, G. J., Marteau, T. M., Nakamura, R., Jebb, S. A., Kelly, M. P., Suhrcke, M., & Ogilvie, D. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0075070 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Self-citationSalti, N., Brouwer, E., & Verguet, S. (2016) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.10.020 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Self-citationAre Tobacco Taxes Really Regressive? Evidence from Chile
Fuchs, A., & Meneses, F. (2017) · World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks · doi:10.1596/1813-9450-7988 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
The effect of taxation on tobacco consumption and public revenues in Lebanon
Salti, N., Chaaban, J. M., Nakkash, R. T., et al. (2013) · Tobacco Control · doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050703 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Economics of Tobacco in Lebanon: An Estimation of the Social Costs of Tobacco Consumption
Salti, N., Chaaban, J. M., & Naamani, N. (2013) · Substance Use & Misuse · doi:10.3109/10826084.2013.863937 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Self-citationHuang, J., Zheng, R., Chaloupka, F. J., et al. (2015) · Tobacco Control · doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2014-052091 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Shemilt, I., Marteau, T. M., Smith, R., & Ogilvie, D. (2015) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1641-5 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Are tobacco taxes really regressive ? evidence from ChilePreprint
Tarlovsky, A. F., & Meneses, F. (2017) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Estimating the Distributional Impact of Increasing Taxes on Tobacco Products in Armenia
Postolovska, I., Lavado, R., Tarr, G. A. M., & Verguet, S. (2017) · World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks · doi:10.1596/26386 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [19]Suhrcke M, Chronic disease: an economic perspective. London, Oxford Health Alliance, 2006
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Global health 2050: the path to halving premature death by mid-century
Jamison, D. T., Summers, L. H., Chang, A. Y., Karlsson, O., Mao, W., Norheim, O. F., Ogbuoji, O., Schäferhoff, M., Watkins, D., Adeyi, O., et al. (2024) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(24)01439-9 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Self-citationSaxena, A., Koon, A. D., Lagrada-Rombaua, L., Angeles-Agdeppa, I., Johns, B., & Capanzana, M. (2019) · Bulletin of the World Health Organization · doi:10.2471/blt.18.219980 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Kjeldsen, E. W., Thomassen, J. Q., Rasmussen, K. L., Nordestgaard, B. G., Tybjærg-Hansen, A., & Frikke-Schmidt, R. (2022) · Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences · doi:10.1017/s2045796022000567 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Gibbs, N., Angus, C., Dixon, S., Parry, C. D., Meier, P. S., Boachie, M. K., & Verguet, S. (2022) · BMJ Global Health · doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007824 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sassi, F., Belloni, A., Mirelman, A. J., Suhrcke, M., Thomas, A., Salti, N., Vellakkal, S., Visaruthvong, C., Popkin, B. M., & Nugent, R.
- Affiliations
- Imperial College London (GB)
- Public Health England (GB)
- University of York (GB)
- Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LU)
- Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques (FR)
- American University of Beirut (LB)
- Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani - Goa Campus (IN)
- Government of Thailand (TH)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- RTI International (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sassi, Franco
- ORCID
- Venue
- The Lancet
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-05
- Volume
- 391
- Issue
- 10134
- Pages
- 2059-2070
- ISSN
- 0099-5355 (ISSN-L)
- 0140-6736
- PMC
- PMC6642722
- OpenAlex
- W2795611399
- Cited by
- 165
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 65 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 13
- FWCI
- 5.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- The Lancet (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (submittedVersion)
- Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) (submittedVersion)
- UNC Libraries
- Funders
- International Development Research Centre
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P2CHD050924)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Economic and Fiscal Studies
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Finance › Healthcare Systems and Reforms
- Keywords
- pricing policy, health taxation, tobacco taxation, low-income households, financial burden, socioeconomic status, household expenditure, healthy behaviours, middle-income countries, high-income countries
- MeSH terms
- Financing, Personal, Health Policy, Health Promotion, Humans, Socioeconomic Factors, Taxes, Health Behavior, Tobacco Products
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
