Abstract
M.Com. (Development Economics)
The effects of cigarette smoking on health and economic wellbeing have been widely studied. However, the effect of cigarette smoking on subjective wellbeing measures, such as life satisfaction, have not received as much scholarly attention, especially in the developing world. Using ordinal logistic regressions on four cross sections of the NIDS dataset, this study tests the effect of cigarette smoking on life satisfaction in South Africa. Results suggest that cigarette smokers are less likely to report high levels of life satisfaction than non-smokers. This finding is used, alongside experience from the literature, to promote the case for alternative tobacco control policies that consider the psychological effects of cigarette smoking.