Causal Effect of Education on Tobacco Use in Low-and-Middle-Income Countries

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of smoking is unequally distributed across certain groups. One significant dimension is education inequality, where higher smoking prevalence is generally observed in lower-educated groups. However, studies investigating educational inequality are mostly associative. Meanwhile, studies carrying out a causal investigation focus typically on developed countries. In this study, we consider a panel of low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) to investigate the causal link between education and smoking behavior. AIMS AND METHODS: We use detailed micro-level household surveys for 12 LMICs where the duration of compulsory schooling has been extended. By identifying the individuals subject to higher compulsory schooling and using the exogenous variation in education caused by the increase in the duration of compulsory schooling, we estimate the causal impact of education on tobacco consumption. We rely on regression analysis to estimate the effect. RESULTS: Our results reveal that those subject to higher years of compulsory schooling have lower smoking-related outcomes, suggesting that higher education significantly lowers tobacco consumption in LMICs. The effect is primarily observed for women, where, for instance, higher compulsory schooling reduces the probability of smoking by 23% and the number of cigarettes smoked by 27%. CONCLUSIONS: The study’s results establish the causal link between education and smoking behavior in LMICs. This significant impact suggests that education policy is still an important tool to help reduce tobacco consumption, especially in settings where the average level of education is not high initially. Moreover, discouraging men from smoking requires other measures to complement education policy. IMPLICATIONS: Education might help reduce tobacco consumption. However, studies—primarily for developed countries—find mixed results. This paper investigates the causal role of education on smoking in LMICs. Education reduces tobacco consumption, especially for women. Thus, education policy can be effective in low-education settings. Nonetheless, education policy should be accompanied by other policies to discourage men from smoking.