Background According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 80% of the world’s smokers live in low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, more than half of the world’s smoking-addicted population resides in the Asia-Pacific region. The reduction of tobacco consumption has thus become one of the major social policies in the region. This study investigates the effects of price increases on cigarette consumption, tobacco tax revenues and reduction in smoking-caused mortality in 22 low-income as well as middle-income countries in the Asia-Pacific region.MethodsUsing panel data from the 1999–2015 Euromonitor International, the World Bank and the World Health Organization, we applied fixed effects regression models of panel data to estimate the elasticity of cigarette prices and to simulate the effect of price fluctuations.ResultsCigarette price elasticity was the highest for countries with a per capita Gross National Income (GNI) above US$6000 (China and Malaysia), and considerably higher for other economies in the region. The administered simulation shows that with an average annual cigarette price increase of 9.51%, the average annual cigarette consumption would decrease by 3.56%, and the average annual tobacco tax revenue would increase by 16.20%. The number of averted smoking-attributable deaths (SADs) would be the highest in China, followed by Indonesia and India. In total, over 17.96 million lives could be saved by tax increases.ConclusionExcise tax increases have a significant effect on the reduction of smoking prevalence and the number of averted smoking-attributable deaths. Middle- and upper-middle income countries would be most affected by high-taxation policies.

BackgroundEuropean Union public healthcare expenditure on treating smoking and attributable diseases is estimated at over €25bn annually. The reduction of tobacco consumption has thus become one of the major social policies of the EU. This study investigates the effects of price hikes on cigarette consumption, tobacco tax revenues and smoking-caused deaths in 28 EU countries.MethodsEmploying panel data for the years 2005 to 2014 from Euromonitor International, the World Bank and the World Health Organization, we used income as a threshold variable and applied threshold regression modelling to estimate the elasticity of cigarette prices and to simulate the effect of price fluctuations.ResultsThe results showed that there was an income threshold effect on cigarette prices in the 28 EU countries that had a gross national income (GNI) per capita lower than US$5418, with a maximum cigarette price elasticity of −1.227. The results of the simulated analysis showed that a rise of 10% in cigarette price would significantly reduce cigarette consumption as well the total death toll caused by smoking in all the observed countries, but would be most effective in Bulgaria and Romania, followed by Latvia and Poland. Additionally, an increase in the number of MPOWER tobacco control policies at the highest level of achievment would help reduce cigarette consumption.ConclusionsIt is recommended that all EU countries levy higher tobacco taxes to increase cigarette prices, and thus in effect reduce cigarette consumption. The subsequent increase in tobacco tax revenues would be instrumental in covering expenditures related to tobacco prevention and control programs.

Excise tax increases have a significant effect on the reduction of smoking prevalence and the number of averted smoking-attributable deaths, Low-income countries are most affected by high taxation policies.

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Milkfish, Chanos chanos, is one of the major inland cultured fish species in Taiwan. Variations in land resources and climate have led to the application of two distinct culture practices of milkfish polycultures with white shrimp, Penaeus indicus. This study applies a translog cost function model to analyze the production scale economy and input demand price elasticity of four milkfish polyculture systems with two different culture periods (OWC and NOWC) and two different white shrimp–milkfish fry stocking ratios (low SMR: 10–55 fry/ha; high SMR: 56–100 fry/ha). The findings show that the four milkfish polyculture systems require different operational adjustments to increase production while reducing the average culture cost. More specifically, overwinter cultures (OWC) have economies of scale. Farmers may reduce the average cost by expanding the production scale. Non-overwinter polycultures (NOWC) with high SMR are at the stage of decreasing return to scale, meaning that gains in output of milkfish cannot reduce the average cost. In terms of input factor use, farmers of OWC systems with high SMR are sensitive to fluctuations in the fry price since fry constitutes the input factor exhibiting the highest own-price elasticity. Moreover, fry and feed of OWC households with high SMR have high levels of substitutability, whereas fry and other input exhibit substitutability in OWC systems with low SMR. In NOWC farming households with high SMR, fry and capital have substitutability. It is thus recommended to modify the input factor use according to the culture mode and the white shrimp–milkfish stocking density ratio. Moreover, the study found that NOWCs have considerably higher SMR than OWCs, which may lead to a deterioration of the water quality in NOWC fishponds and lower survival rates. It is thus recommended to reduce the SMR to 31:1 to achieve economies of scale in production and increase the survival rate of milkfish and white shrimp.

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