The effect of e‐cigarette taxes on pre‐pregnancy and prenatal smoking

Abstract

E‐cigarette taxes are an active area of legislation and have important regulatory implications by proxying e‐cigarette accessibility. We examine the effect of e‐cigarette taxes on prepregnancy and prenatal smoking using the near‐universe of births to mothers conceiving between 2013 and 2019 in the United States. Using fixed effect regressions, we show that e‐cigarette taxes increase prepregnancy and prenatal smoking. We also find evidence that e‐cigarette taxes reduce prepregnancy and 3rd trimester e‐cigarette use. Finally, we show that e‐cigarette taxes increase news coverage of e‐cigarettes and raise perceptions of risk of e‐cigarettes.