The economic impact of smoke-free laws on sales in bars and restaurants in Argentina

SummaryWe studied the impact of the recent smoke-free laws on the sales in bars and restaurants, in the city of Buenos Aires and in three provinces of Argentina. Using a quasi-experimental design and a difference-in-differences estimation procedure we found that the smoke-free laws did not have a statistically significant negative effect on sales in bars and restaurants in the city of Buenos Aires and in the provinces of Córdoba, Santa Fe and Tucumán. Moreover, in the case of Buenos Aires, the smoke-free legislation could have induced an increase in the sales in bars and restaurants.