Smoking Habits: Like Father, Like Son, Like Mother, Like Daughter

• Authors: Anna Sanz-de-Galdeano, Daniela Vuri and Maria Loureiro.
• BSE Working Paper: 402 | September 15
• Keywords: Instrumental Variables , youth smoking , intergenerational habit transmission , multivariate probit
• JEL codes: I1, C5
• Instrumental Variables
• youth smoking
• intergenerational habit transmission
• multivariate probit

We use instrumental variable methods to investigate whether the impact of parental smoking habits on their children’s smoking decisions is a causal one. We find evidence of same-sex role models in two-parent households: mothers play a crucial role in determining their daughters’ smoking decisions, while fathers’ smoking habits are primarily imitated by their sons.