August 10, 2016

Love conquers all but nicotine; spousal peer e ffects on the decision to quit smoking

If two partners smoke, their quit behavior may be related through correlation in unobserved individual characteristics and common external shocks. However, there may also be a causal eff ect whereby the quit behavior of one partner is a ffected by the quit decision of the other partner.

We use data on Dutch partnered individuals to study the relevance of such spousal peer e ffects. After controlling for common unobserved heterogeneity and common external shocks, we fi nd that such spousal peer e ffects in
the decision to quit smoking do not exist. Apparently, love conquers all but nicotine addiction.

Authors

Ali Palali
Jan C. van Ours (UvT)

Read more about